Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Mr John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the annual savings to the public purse from the phasing out of the paper vehicle tax disc; and what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of changes in the level of vehicle tax evasion since that phasing out.

Claire Perry: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency estimates that abolishing the vehicle tax disc will save £13.8m each year by not having to produce, issue and post the discs to motorists.   An assessment carried out by Her Majesty’s Treasury concluded that removing the requirement to display a paper tax disc was not expected to have an impact on income from vehicle excise duty.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government's latest projected cost is for the London to Birmingham stretch of High Speed 2, with contingency identified separately.

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected cost per kilometre is of the London to Birmingham stretch of High Speed 2; and what the projected cost per kilometre is of noise barriers on that stretch.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The current estimated cost of Phase 1 of High Speed 2 (London to West Midlands) is £15.65 billion. A contingency provision of £5.75 billion has been set at P95 level. Based on these prices the cost per single track kilometre is £47.56 million for Phase 1, including £80, 000 per kilometre for noise barriers. These figures are in 2011 prices and at the P95 level, meaning that at this early stage there is a 95 percent confidence level that the project can be delivered for this cost.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 5 September 2013 to Question 167787, whether the figure of 350Mw given in that Answer is still accurate; and what the maximum operating speed associated with this figure is.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The figure of 350MW for peak power demand for the Phase 1 network at the maximum planned capacity (18 trains per hour in each direction) is still the current estimate.   The maximum operating speed associated with this figure is 360 kph.

Large Goods Vehicles: Safety

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to tighten minimum safety requirements for HGVs by removing exceptions for construction vehicles.

Claire Perry: The Department plans to consult shortly about reviewing exemptions for certain large vehicles from both the requirement to have a statutory roadworthiness test and to be operated under licence as goods vehicles. Additionally, the Department plans to consult about proposals to ensure a greater number of vehicles are fitted with sideguards by removing existing exemptions, and are considering a retro-fitting requirement for front mirrors.

Roads: Safety

Mrs Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on road safety through driver distraction of inbuilt, in-car infotainment systems; and what plans he has to regulate the use of such systems.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Rules 148–150 of The Official Highway Code advises drivers to avoid distractions. The rules make it clear that drivers must exercise proper control of their vehicle.   It has been illegal since the 1980s to view a screen whilst driving, unless that screen is displaying driving information.   Under sections 2 and 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 a person may be charged with the offences of dangerous, careless and inconsiderate driving.   My officials recently met with a major ‘infotainment’ provider who were anxious not to pose a road safety risk through the use of their systems. They are considering technical options to allow it to be used in accordance with the law.

M25

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time taken was by drivers to travel (a) clockwise and (b) anti-clockwise between junction 29 and junction 2 of the M25.

Mr John Hayes: In 2013, the last year for which full data is available, the average time taken to travel on the M25 between junction 29 and junction 2 was 15 minutes, 3 seconds clockwise and 14 minutes 39 seconds anti-clockwise.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations his Department has received on the safety and cost of road surface dressing.

Mr Robert Goodwill: An e-petition has been placed by Christopher Caswell on HM Government e-petitions. To date, 14 October 2014, it has received 13, 587 signatures and closes on the 30 March 2015. The Department has also received a small number of correspondence from MPs, the public and a trade association. This Government takes the issue of road safety and the condition of the road network very seriously. There are many types of materials to resurface the highway network and surface dressings have been safely used for many years on all classes of road. This type of dressing seals the old road surface, preventing the ingress of water which causes deterioration of the road surface, and the road matrix and thus reducing the risk of wider scale deterioration and road failure. When designed and laid properly they pose no additional risks. On many roads, where traffic flow are not excessively high, surface dressings have been shown to be both cost-effective and sustainable.   The Highways Agency, responsible for the motorway and trunk road network, do not routinely use this type of dressing due to the high traffic flows. For local roads however, which are the statutory responsibility of local highway authorities, it is for each individual authority to decide on the most suitable materials to be used for resurfacing and repair works, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Performance Appraisal

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many officials in his Department of each (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) age received the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System's (i) exceeded, (ii) met and (iii) must improve performance mark in 2013-14.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many officials in his Department completed the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System in 2013-14; how many and what proportion of those officials received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark; and how many and what proportion (i) did and (ii) did not qualify for a bonus under that process.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many officials in his Department who received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark under the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System (i) had a disability, (ii) worked full-time and (iii) worked part-time in 2013-14.

Kris Hopkins: The Department recognises the three performance assessment ratings as ‘Exceptional’, ‘Good’ and ‘Development Needed’. Outcomes for the 2013/14 performance year against each of the defined categories are set out in the attached tables. Bonus payments are not linked to outcomes of the annual performance management system. A more detailed analysis of the performance outcomes is being undertaken to understand other factors that impact performance management outcomes, including proportionality of protected groups by grade. The Department actively monitors the outcomes of the annual performance management ratings against protected groups. Engagement with staff networks, including the Black and Minority Ethnic and Disability networks, is ongoing, to share proposals on addressing any issues. A reasonable adjustments service, which has recently been subject to a review, is provided to allow staff to ensure that a person with a disability is not put at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled persons generally, who work under the same conditions. Individuals who are rated as ‘Development Needed’ and are considered to require additional support to improve their performance, are actively supported by their line manager. There are a number of tools available to including formal coaching and mentoring, learning interventions, closer supervision, or the design of a Performance Improvement Plan. 



DCLG PMR Tables
(Word Document, 25.44 KB)

Local Government: Procurement

Sir James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of audit trails in local government expenditure spending; and what estimate he has made of the incidence of accidental duplicate payments to local government suppliers in each of the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: Whilst we do not centrally hold detailed information on local authorities’ duplicate payments, in my Department's publication “50 ways to save”, we observed that councils could save money by conducting audits of potential duplicate payments and reforming accounts payable processes. This was based on research by Experian of both local and central government bodies, suggesting duplicate payments could cost taxpayers up to £147 million a year. As stated in my answer of 3 September 2014, Official Report, Column 265W, my own Department has put this best practice into action and delivered savings of £100,000 by recovering duplicate payments made since 2006.

Refuges: Females

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of specialist women's refuges since 2010; what steps the Government is taking to ensure adequate provision of refuges for women and children fleeing domestic violence; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: Decisions on the provision of accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are for local authorities: we expect local authorities to build services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources. The dynamics of domestic abuse mean that accommodation can play an important role in the resolution of interpersonal abuse and conflict. This is why the homelessness legislation in England provides one of the strongest safety nets in the world for families with children and for vulnerable people who become homeless through no fault of their own. There is a range of support for victims of domestic abuse. Some victims will be accommodated in refuges, but Sanctuary Schemes and mainstream local authority accommodation may be an option for others, while some victims will pursue independent solutions with help and advice from support schemes as necessary. This Government invested £6.5 billion in housing related support for vulnerable people. This forms a key element of refuge funding through local authority commissioned services. We also fund UKRefugesOnline a UK wide database of domestic violence services which supports the national 24 hour free phone domestic violence helpline. This service enables those working with victims of domestic violence to identify appropriate services and potential refuge vacancies around the country so that victims can get the help they need as quickly as possible. This Government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of funding for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services until 2015. This funding is used to part-fund 54 multi-agency risk assessment conference co-ordinators and 144 independent domestic violence advisers. We have piloted and rolled out Clare's Law and domestic violence protection orders; extended the definition of domestic abuse to cover controlling behaviour and teenage relationships; run two successful campaigns to challenge perceptions of abuse; and placed Domestic Homicide Reviews on a statutory footing to make sure lessons are learned from individual tragedies.

Right to Acquire Scheme

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on the availability of social housing of excluding properties in small rural settlements from the Right to Acquire scheme.

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward proposals to include properties in small rural settlements in the Right to Acquire scheme.

Brandon Lewis: The Government is committed to enabling social tenants, including those who live in rural areas, to achieve their aspiration for home ownership where this is the right option for them.We are also committed to ensuring that affordable rented housing is available to people in these areas. The Government is keeping the Right to Acquire under review and welcomes representations on how tenants of housing associations can be further supported to access home ownership.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what process is used to monitor the eventual destination of strategic equipment and arms sold to Saudi Arabia; and what recent discussions he has had with the government of Saudi Arabia on such sales.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government examines every export licence application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated (EU and National) Export Licensing Criteria (available at the following link: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140325/wmstext/140325m0001.htm#14032566000018). We are satisfied that the currently extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with this criteria.Officials in our Embassy in Riyadh have regular contact with their Saudi counterparts about the sale of military and security equipment to the Kingdom.

UN Security Council

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will list the initiatives taken by the UK while holding the Chair of the UN Security Council; and which such initiatives received support from the full Security Council.

James Duddridge: The UK held the presidency of the UN Security Council in August, and focused on a theme of conflict prevention, coinciding with the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. The main event was an open debate on conflict prevention at which the Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2171. This emphasised the role of the UN in preventing conflict, placed conflict prevention firmly on the Security Council’s ongoing agenda, and acknowledged human rights violations as early indicators of conflict. The Council also undertook a trip to Europe – where they visited a First World War battlefield and the International Court of Justice at the Hague – and Somalia and South Sudan. This visit was welcomed by all Council members. The principal responsibility of the presidency is to ensure regular Security Council business is efficiently discharged. To this end, there were debates and discussions on a range of issues, including Libya, ISIL, Yemen, the UN’s mission in Darfur (UNAMID), and Ukraine. Overall, the UK drafted five resolutions and a Presidential Statement. All were agreed unanimously. My Hon Friend, the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds MP), the former Minister for Africa, also chaired a Security Council debate on achieving lasting peace and stability in the Africa's Great Lake regions.

USA

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the current text of the 1958 UK-US Mutual Defence Agreement and its annexes, as subsequently amended since the Agreement originally entered into force and (b) any amendments to the Agreement and its annexes that the Government proposes for when they are renewed.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The 2014 Amendment to the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defense Purposes 1958, otherwise known as the Amendment Agreement to the 1958 UK-US Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA), has been laid before Parliament in accordance with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. This Amendment Agreement is intended to renew and update certain provisions in the MDA to ensure their continuing relevance and validity for a further period of 10 years until 31 December 2024. The original MDA and its subsequent amendments are available in the libraries, as they were previously laid under the Ponsonby Rule. In line with long-established practice, and as accepted by Parliament during the 2004 renewal, the annexes of the MDA cannot be placed in the libraries because of the sensitivity of their contents.

Israel

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the degree to which human rights are respected in Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The EU-Israel Association Agreement provides a useful structure in which to discuss the EU’s human rights concerns, and to work with Israel to address these. It is important that these discussions take place.The EU regularly discusses its concerns with Israel in meetings at all levels, including regular political level meetings and through an informal human rights working group. In addition to this, human rights concerns are regularly raised through the work of the local EU delegation in Israel.

Nigeria

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Nigerian government on the use of torture by the Nigerian police and military.

Mr David Lidington: The Government has made clear to the Nigerian authorities at all levels, that we do not condone human rights abuses. During my visit to Abuja on 3 September, my Hon Friend, the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge MP), the Minister for Africa, raised human rights with the Nigerian Foreign Minister, and underlined the importance of respect for human rights and the safeguarding of the civilian population during the Nigerian governments fight against terrorism.We encourage the Nigerian Government to respond constructively to credible reports of human rights abuses by the Nigerian Security Forces, and to investigate fully. Any member of the Nigerian security forces found to have been involved in human rights abuses should be brought to justice.

Occupied Territories

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2014 to Question 208803, what further representations he has made to the Israeli government on the expropriation of land near Bethlehem since 7 September 2014.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 5-8 October, I discussed my strong concerns about the issue of settlements and land expopriation with the Israeli Justice Minister on 6 October.

Pakistan

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representation he has made to his Pakistani counterpart on the proposed execution of Mohammad Asghar on blasphemy charges in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We continue to raise our concerns on this case at the highest levels with the Pakistani Authorities and will continue to do so. We remain in regular contact with Mr Asghar’s family in both the UK and Pakistan, and with his legal representatives on the approach we take. Although Mr Asghar currently faces the death penalty under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, he has appealed his sentence. We continue to urge that the Pakistani authorities give due consideration to his clearly documented history of mental illness. Given the recent shooting that resulted in Mr Asghar’s hospitalisation we continue to raise his safety and security in Pakistan as an issue of concern. The Pakistani Authorities are fully aware of the UK’s interest in Mr Asghar’s case.

Occupied Territories

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his Department's Press Release of 3 October 2014, entitled UK deplores Israel government settlement decision, what response he has received from his counterpart in the Israeli government on his statement deploring the Israeli government's decision to advance plans for the 2,610 settlement units in Givat Hamatos.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Officials from our Embassy have discussed this issue in strong terms with senior Israeli leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to criticism by saying that the 2,610 units approved for construction in Givat Hamatos were not settlement units but houses in a neighbourhood in Jerusalem. He stated that both Arabs and Jews could buy apartments where they so choose. Netanyahu also described the step as merely ‘a statutory formality that does not require publicising.’

Palestinians

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made to date on lifting the blockade of Gaza.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 5-8 October, I was informed by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Israel is letting around 400 trucks of humanitarian aid from Israel into Gaza every day. The number of businessmen being allowed from Gaza to the West Bank is up to 200 per day. 1,500 Gazans had travelled to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel for Eid this week. Fishing goods and agricultural goods were now being transferred for sale in the West Bank. While this is a start to the progress of lifting the restrictions, the current ceasefire provides a critical window of opportunity for reaching a comprehensive agreement that tackles the underlying causes of the conflict, which should ensure that Israel lifts its restrictions fully as we have been calling Israel to do.

Palestinians

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Israeli authorities on plans to transfer 12,500 Jahalin, Kaabneh and Rashaida Palestinian Bedouin from Area C East of Jerusalem to a new urban extension of Jericho.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I raised strong concerns over the plans to move the Bedouin population from Area C with the Israeli Justice Minister on 6 October during my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 5-8 October.

Occupied Territories

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take either unilaterally or with other EU states in response to the refusal of the Israeli government to reverse its most recent expropriation of land near Etzion and Bethlehem.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK deplores Israel’s decision to expropriate 988 acres of land near Etzion and Bethlehem. The UK, along with a number of EU counterparts, and the European External Action Service, continues to urge the Israeli authorities to reverse this decision. Discussions are continuing with EU partners about what more can be done to discourage Israeli settlement activity.

Pakistan

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in other states taking military action in Iraq and Syria on possible ISIS influence in Pakistan.

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Pakistan on the activities of ISIS in Pakistan.

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of recruitment of new members to ISIS in Pakistan.

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Gulf States on the funding of Al-Qaeda and ISIS-affiliated groups in Pakistan by such states and private sources based in those states.

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the level of support for ISIS in Pakistan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are playing an active role internationally to combat ISIL, cooperating with our closest allies and partners, including the Gulf states.The UK Government remains fully committed to working in partnership with Pakistan to tackle terrorism and violent extremism. We regularly discuss counter-terrorism issues with Pakistani officials.There are media reports of limited rhetorical support for ISIL in some parts of Pakistan in the form of leaflets and graffiti. A statement in early October by the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group, expressing support for ISIL was followed shortly afterwards by a second expressing the group’s loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar. In mid-October, some media reported that a small group of Pakistani Taliban leaders had pledged personal allegiance to ISIL.

Occupied Territories

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what response the Israeli government has made to (a) him and (b) his EU counterparts to their condemnations of the recent expropriation of land near Etzion and Bethlehem in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 5-8 October, on 6 October I discussed with the Israeli Justice Minister my strong concerns about the recent land expopriation, she noted my concerns.

Poland

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Polish counterpart on UK support for Poland regarding that country's territorial integrity; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: At the Wales Summit the Alliance reaffirmed its commitment to meet treaty obligations to any member under threat. The UK offered its own force contribution at the Summit, namely a Battle Group and a Brigade HQ. The UK and Poland hold annual quadrilateral meetings involving both Foreign and Defence Secretaries in which, amongst other things, defence cooperation is discussed. At this year’s meeting, we committed to joint UK-Poland military exercises over the next two years. I look forward to future discussions with my new Polish counterpart, Rafał Trzaskowski, on this issue and we were delighted to hand over the baton of hosting the next NATO summit in 2016 to Poland.

Middle East

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect Israeli citizens from rocket fire originating in Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The best way to help protect Israeli citizens from rocket fire, is to reach a comprehensive agreement on Gaza that tackles the underlying causes of the recent conflict. The agreement must also ensure that Hamas and other militant groups permanently end rocket fire and other attacks against Israel, and that the Palestinian Authority resumes control of Gaza and restores effective and accountable governance. It should also include Israel lifting its restrictions on movement and access for goods and people, to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians, and allow the Gazan economy to grow. There should be international monitoring and verification to ensure full implementation of a comprehensive agreement. The UK is working to that end.

Morocco

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will (a) discuss with the Moroccan Ambassador to the UK and (b) instruct HM Ambassador in Rabat to investigate the death of Hasena Luali on 28 September 2014 at a military hospital in Dajla.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We were saddened to hear of the death of Hassan El Wali in a military hospital in Dakhla. According to the Moroccan Ministry of Justice, this was a result of undiagnosed diabetes complicated by Mr El Wali’s recent hunger strike. The British Ambassador discussed the matter with the president of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) on 10 October. Mr El-Yazami told us that he had called for an immediate investigation. A CNDH medical examiner had been sent to Dakhla, who had confirmed the official version of events.It is clearly important that Morocco ensures prisoners have access to appropriate medical care, a point we will be stressing in our future dialogue with the Moroccan government on human rights. The Ambassador also discussed human rights more generally with the Moroccan Foreign Minister on 11 October.

Western Sahara

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will (a) discuss with the Moroccan ambassador to the UK and (b) instruct the HM ambassador in Rabat to investigate the cases and treatment of Mohamed Baber, Abdessalam Loumadi, Abdelmoutaleb Sarir, Mahmoud El Haissan, Aaliayne El Moussaoui, Abdelkrim Bouchalga and Abdelfattah Dallal in the Western Sahara.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are aware of reports concerning these prisoners and their hunger strike over prison conditions and treatment. We understand that they have now been promised improvements by the prison authorities and have ended their hunger strike. The British Ambassador mostly recently discussed Western Sahara issues with the President of the Moroccan Human Rights Council (CNDH) on 10 October and human rights more generally with the Moroccan Foreign Minister on 11 October.

Morocco

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which borders of Morocco the EU officially acknowledges.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are not aware of an official EU position on this matter.

GPT Special Project Management

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Attorney General and (b) the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) about Saudi concerns over the SFO's investigation into GPT Special Project Management Ltd.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We have not discussed the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into GPT Special Project Management Ltd with the Attorney General, but we are assisting the SFO with its investigation as required.

GPT Special Project Management

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department has discussed the Serious Fraud Office's investigation into GPT Special Project Management Ltd with the Saudi government.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Embassy in Riyadh informed the Saudi Government of the announcement of the investigation.

Northern Ireland Office

Public Records

Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what targets have been set for the release of her Department's material to the National Archives; what progress has been made in meeting those targets; and how many staff in her Department are engaged in reviewing records for that purpose.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The targets that have been set for the release of Northern Ireland Office records to the National Archives are:1983 – November 20141984 – March 20151985 – July 20151986 – January 2016At present the Department is on track to meet those targets.The Department has three part-time records reviewers whose work is overseen by a senior records manager, supported by a records team of three staff.

Attorney General

Offences against Children

Diana Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, how many referrals were made about child abuse to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police in each of the last five years; and how many such cases resulted in subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of cases of child abuse, referred for a pre-charge decision or prosecuted, by way of a monitoring flag.   The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and includes physical, emotional and sexual criminal offences, as well as neglect of a child and Non-recent child abuse where the victim is now an adult. It includes allegations or crimes perpetrated by both adults and under 18s. The data is accurate only to the extent that the flag has been correctly applied.   During each of the last five years the number of pre-charge decisions made against suspects alleged to have committed offences involving child abuse is as follows:Pre-Charge Decisions2009-201012,6912010-201113,0152011-201211,6102012-20139,3792013-201411,187 Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System   In the same period, the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted, in cases flagged as child abuse is as follows:Total ProsecutedConvictions% Convictions2009-20108,0796,04374.8%2010-20119,2356,85574.2%2011-20128,5816,44475.1%2012-20137,5585,75576.1%2013-20147,9986,09676.2% Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System  This information is available within the CPS’s annual ‘Violence against Women and Girls Report 2013-14’.

Crown Prosecution Service

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many exit packages the CPS agreed in the last financial year that were of a value above £100,000; and what the total cost of such packages were to the public purse.

Mr Robert Buckland: The CPS agreed 35 exit packages in 2013/14 that were of a value above £100,000. The total cost of these exit packages was £4.4 million.   CPS exit packages data are available in the CPS’s Annual Report and Accounts 2013-2014.

Offences against Children

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) pre-charge decisions, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions there were in child abuse cases in each year since 2006-07.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of cases of child abuse, referred for a pre-charge decision or prosecuted, by way of a monitoring flag.   The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and includes physical, emotional and sexual criminal offences, as well as neglect of a child and non-recent child abuse where the victim is now an adult. It The data is accurate only to the extent that the flag has been correctly applied.   During each of the last eight years the number of pre-charge decisions made, against suspects alleged to have committed offences involving child abuse, is as follows:Pre-Charge Decisions2006-200711,4852007-200811,5422008-200911,0942009-201012,6912010-201113,0152011-201211,6102012-20139,3792013-201411,187 Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System   In the same period, the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted, in cases flagged as child abuse is as follows:  Total ProsecutedConvictions% Convictions2006-20077,3375,21671.1%2007-20087,5875,49972.5%2008-20097,3815,47974.2%2009-20108,0796,04374.8%2010-20119,2356,85574.2%2011-20128,5816,44475.1%2012-20137,5585,75576.1%2013-20147,9986,09676.2% Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System  This information is available within the CPS’s annual ‘Violence against Women and Girls Report 2013-14’.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Arms Trade: Eastern Europe

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what has been the value of UK arms sales to the government of (a) Ukraine and (b) Russia since February 2014.

Matthew Hancock: We do not hold data on actual arms sales, only on export licences we have granted.However, we have not granted licences for arms to either the Ukrainian or Russian Governments since February 2014.

Business: Government Assistance

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish all gender-specific data held by his Department on the effect of his Department's schemes to promote business and enterprise.

Jo Swinson: All evaluations of the effects of this Department’s policies are published, and can be found at www.gov.uk.Where it is relevant, data collections and evaluations include an assessment of gender-specific effects – for example in the Workplace Employment Relations Study (WERS) or the Small Business Survey Reports which are also available on www.gov.uk.

Agriculture: Research

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding from the (a) research councils and (b) Technology Strategy Board was allocated to agricultural research in the financial years 2005-06 to 2013-14.

Greg Clark: The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills’ funding for agricultural research is through the UK Research Councils and Innovate UK (formerly TSB) as per the figures given below:   Research Council funding for agriculture research:  £kCouncil2005-062006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14BBSRC58,20067,10071,20075,20083,80089,60088,20091,60089,200ESRC2502,2214,1684,8325,1664,5262,8833,4943,551NERC3,2282,6683,8754,7326,50813,6267,54020,14918,151Total61,42869,76879,24384,76495,474107,75298,623115,243110,902 Innovate UK’s funding for agriculture research: £2005-062006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14864,062903,749871,506517,2161,176,2888,191,6178,252,01412,773,3709,014,373

Trade Agreements

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2014 to Question 207177, who is responsible for drafting the text of the prudential carve-out in the Trade in Services Agreement.

Matthew Hancock: The European Commission negotiates on behalf of the Member States in the EU. The negotiating teams of the EU and the other negotiating states are led by chief negotiators, and contain officials with expertise in the areas under negotiation. It is the mutual responsibility of these negotiating teams and their officials to draft the agreements, including in the case of the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), the prudential carve-out, which forms part of the Financial Services chapter.

Business: China

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department plans to have with representatives of the Chinese government about innovation, manufacturing or investment in the next year.

Matthew Hancock: Innovation is a key priority for the UK and Chinese Governments and both are committed to strengthening the UK/China trade and investment relationship, including in the manufacturing sector. These issues are regularly discussed at Government to Government meetings, including the annual UK-China Summit, Economic and Financial Dialogue and Joint Economic and Trade Commission which are all due to be held in 2015. The Joint Commission on Science, Technology and Innovation chaired by the UK and Chinese Science Ministers meets every two years and will next take place in 2016.

Business: EU Law

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Business Taskforce's publication Cut EU Red Tape, published in October 2013, what steps have been taken to reduce the barriers to overall competitiveness.

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Business Taskforce's publication Cut EU Red Tape, published in October 2013, what steps have been taken to reduce the barriers to starting a company and employing people.

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Business Taskforce's publication Cut EU Red Tape, published in October 2013, what steps have been taken to reduce the barriers to expanding a business and employing people.

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Business Taskforce's publication Cut EU Red Tape, published in October 2013, what steps have been taken to reduce the barriers to trading across borders and employing people.

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Business Taskforce's publication Cut EU Red Tape, published in October 2013, what steps have been taken to reduce the barriers to innovation.

Matthew Hancock: The Government continues to attach high priority to the reduction of unnecessary EU burdens on business, including barriers to overall competitiveness; starting a company and employing people; expanding a business; trading across borders; and innovation, as set out in the Business Taskforce report.   A report will be published later this month, outlining the progress that has been made in delivering the Taskforce recommendations.

Adult and Community Learning Fund

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the Community Learning Fund supports digital inclusion projects or projects that equip learners with digital skills.

Nick Boles: The national Community Learning (CL) objectives focus strongly on tackling disadvantage, including digital exclusion. Data for 2012/13 show that 9.4 per cent of all CL enrolments were in ICT subjects, with 97,310 learners participating.   The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) separately funds the Tinder Foundation to deliver a wide range of digital inclusion projects. Many BIS-funded learning providers - mainly Local Authority adult education services - work closely with the Tinder Foundation and UK online centres on a range of digital inclusion projects.   In addition BIS has run a series of basic digital skills training programmes with Tinder in recent years. These have helped 1.25m people gain the skills they need to become confident and safe internet users.

Adult and Community Learning Fund

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the Community Learning Fund is distributed; and what projects that Fund currently supports.

Nick Boles: BIS contributes £210m pa to support community learning (CL) via the Community Learning budget, which is managed by the Skills Funding Agency. Funding is allocated via a grant arrangement with 315 learning providers, including Local Authority adult education services, Further Education colleges, and voluntary sector organisations. Many learning providers work with local sub-contractors.   The CL budget helps to support an on-going adult education offer in every area, rather than short term projects. Community Learning courses: · meet a variety of learning needs, from personal development to pre-employment skills, health and wellbeing, parenting skills, crafts and languages · are free - or nearly free - for people who are disadvantaged, with more affluent learners paying according to their means · use flexible teaching and learning approaches and take place in accessible local venues in order to engage a wide range of people, including those who are very disadvantaged · have varied outcomes, including improved confidence, better mental/physical health, confident parenting and progression to formal training and/or employment.

Apprentices

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices have been employed by companies in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Nick Boles: Data for each of the last 3 years on the number of Apprenticeship starts by workplace location is shown in Table 1. Geographic information for workplace location is not available for earlier years.Table 1: Apprenticeship starts by workplace location 2010/112011/122012/13Barnsley East Constituency350780660South Yorkshire14,40016,49015,130All Apprenticeships457,200520,600510,200Source: Individualised Learner Record (ILR) Additional information on the number of workplaces employing apprentices by geography is published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/309551/apprenticeship-workplaces-by-region-and-constituency.xls

Further Education

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of students who completed further education went on to (a) university, (b) a full-time job and (c) an apprenticeship in (i) Barnsley East constituency, (ii) South Yorkshire and (iii) England in each of the last three years.

Nick Boles: There is no data source that gives a complete answer for all FE students. Data for students under the age of 19 is compiled by the Department for Education (DfE); data for students aged 19 or over is compiled by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Departments use different methodologies in collecting the data.   DfE has published experimental data on destinations of Key Stage 5 school leavers, by parliamentary constituency, local authority, and institution are published by the Department for Education at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-key-stage-4-and-key-stage-5-pupils-2011-to-2012.   The latest data (published 26 June 2014) are for those who entered an A Level or other Level 3 qualification in 2010/11 and their sustained destination in 2011/12. A summary of this data is shown in Table 1 below. Data for the previous years are available on a different basis and are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-key-stage-4-and-key-stage-5-pupils-2010-to-2011 and https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-key-stage-4-and-key-stage-5-pupils-academic-year-2009-to-2010   Table 1: KS5: Percentage of students, in 2010/11, who entered an A Level or other Level 3 qualification, going to, or remaining in, an education or employment destination in 2011/12: all mainstream schools and colleges, including independents  Number of Students% into a Higher Education Institution (sustained)% into Sustained Employment and/or training1% into apprenticeshipBarnsley East1046%0%xBarnsley LA1,14043%4%6%Doncaster LA1,72048%5%6%Rotherham LA2,14047%6%7%Sheffield LA3,16051%5%5%England370,94054%6%4% x indicates data suppressed due to small cohort size or small numbers in the reporting lines. 1) it is not possible to identify full-time job from other employment and/or training. Data for the Local Authorities in South Yorkshire County have been shown separately. See publication for further details on definitions and measures   BIS publishes destinations data by provider and provider-type for adult (19+) learners and 16-18 Apprenticeships. The data is not compiled on a geographical basis so it cannot be used to answer the PQ directly. A full breakdown of the learner destinations indicators by provider can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-choices-performance-indicators

Business: Loans

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of safeguards and warnings on business loans when residential properties are used as security.

Matthew Hancock: Lending to smaller businesses is covered by The Lending Code which is monitored by the independent Lending Standards Board. The Code requires lenders to act fairly and reasonably in their dealings with small business customers, including ensuring that advertising and promotional material is fair, clear and not misleading. Before a customer accepts a credit product, the Code requires banks to provide information about how a product works and its main features in plain language which avoids the use of technical or legal language wherever possible. In the event of a complaint which cannot be resolved via the bank’s own complaints process, smaller businesses can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.   Formal regulation applies where a lender makes a loan for business purposes to an individual sole trader, or (in England and Wales) a partnership, and the loan is secured on the borrower's house or houses. These loans are treated as regulated mortgage contracts and are governed by Financial Conduct Authority conduct of business rules covering matters such as the advertising and selling of products, the provision of standard form documents (including key facts illustrations) and how lenders treat borrowers who are in arrears.

Riot Control Weapons: Exports

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment is carried out of the risk of tear gas being used for internal repression before an export licence is granted.

Matthew Hancock: All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria and the prevailing circumstances at the time of each application. Criterion 2 concerns the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination, as well as respect by that country for international humanitarian law. An export licence would not be granted if there was a clear risk that the goods to be exported might be used for internal repression.

Aerospace Industry

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to support the aerospace industry following the announcement of 440 job losses at British Aerospace.

Matthew Hancock: We will work closely with BAE Systems and local leaders to manage the impact of the losses, including through the Talent Retention Solution which is available to match skilled workers to jobs in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector. In addition support will be available through Job Centre Plus, the Skills Funding Agency and other local partners.   Government is committed to working with industry through the Defence Growth Partnership to help identify and capitalise on opportunities for growth, building on our strengths in areas such as air capabilities. The DGP’s Implementation Plan, launched by the Prime Minister at the Farnborough Airshow in July, builds on the Strategic Vision published last year and will help industry maximise defence exports through a new UK Defence Solutions Centre and a strengthened UKTI DSO.   For the civil aerospace sector Government and industry set out a joint strategy and implementation plan for growth in the Aerospace Industrial Strategy published in March 2013. A progress update on these was published in July.

Business: Civil Proceedings

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to protect small businesses from vexatious claims by employees; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The new Employment Tribunal rules of procedure, which implemented the recommendations of the Underhill Review, were implemented on 29 July 2013. These rules allow tribunals to identify weak or vexatious claims at an early stage through an initial sift and to manage them effectively through measures such as deposit orders. Greater flexibility to apply a deposit order to parts of a claim or response helps to manage the expectations of claimants as to the strength of their claim and encourage them to consider more carefully what parts of their claim they want to take forward.

Department for International Development

International Assistance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of progress on meeting (a) the Millennium Development Goal of ensuring all children receive an education by 2015 and (b) other Millennium Development Goals.

Justine Greening: A full statement of progress on each of the goals and targets has been published in DFID’s Annual Report and Accounts 2013 to 2014.

HM Treasury

Home Care Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many home care providers were investigated by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last four years; and what proportion of those providers was found not to be paying the national minimum wage.

Mr David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition, by collating and analysing data received from various sources, HMRC ensure targeted enforcement to identify employers across the United Kingdom who are more likely to be not paying NMW.   The Government has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.   The following table shows the number of employers in the home care sector over the past four years where HMRC have commenced and completed investigations. It also shows the percentage of instances where employers were found to be non-complaint with NMW legislation as a result of these investigations.YearInvestigations Percentage2010/1113 23%2011/1246 39%2012/1324 46%2013/1413 15%

Acorn Agricultural Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what licenses the Financial Conduct Authority has granted Acorn Agriculture Finance Ltd in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: This question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply to the honorable gentleman directly by letter. A copy of the response will be placed in the Library of the House.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Mrs Anne Main: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of tax revenue received from stamp duty land tax in 2013-14 and the figures projected in this area by the OBR in March 2014.

Mrs Anne Main: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of property transactions have been liable for stamp duty land tax between each of the stamp duty thresholds in each year since 2005-06; and what estimate he has made of such figures in each of the next five years.

Mr David Gauke: In 2013-14 SDRT receipts were £9,273m. In the March 2013 Economic and fiscal outlook OBR report SDRT receipts for 2013-14 were forecast to be £9,500m. The full report is available at this link:   http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-march-2014/   The numbers of historic property transactions occurring in different price bands for the requested years is published as part 3 of the publication “Annual UK Property Transactions Statistics 2014”. The latest release can be found at this link:   https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-uk-property-transactions-statistics-2013   The OBR has responsibility for forecasting SDLT, and currently the OBR produce a total SDLT forecast which is not split by tax band.

Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Stephen Hammond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to table 4.1 in HM Revenue and Customs report, The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate of income tax, published in March 2012, what recent estimate his Department has made of taxable income elasticity for the UK economy.

Stephen Hammond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraphs 5.40 and 5.41 of HM Revenue and Customs report, The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate of income tax, published in March 2012, , what recent estimate he has made of the scale of (a) forestalling and (b) other behavioural effects.

Stephen Hammond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the fall in liabilities as a result of the introduction of the 50 per cent top rate of income tax on 6 April 2010.

Stephen Hammond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the yield was of the 50 per cent tax rate in each fiscal year of its existence from 6 April 2010.

Stephen Hammond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the yield was of the top rate of income tax for each fiscal year from the introduction of the top rate of 45 per cent in 1988 to its abolition in 2010.

Stephen Hammond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 2.5 of HM Revenue and Customs publication, The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate of income tax, published in March 2012, what the income tax revenue shares were by income trend in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

Stephen Hammond: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people had a net income of £150,000 or more in each fiscal year from 2007-08 to date.

Mr David Gauke: i, ii and iii. The estimated impact of the additional rate on tax liabilities is set out in Chapter 5 of the HM Revenue and Customs report “The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate of income tax”. This report sets out the latest estimates of the taxable income elasticity, and the forestalling and other behavioural effects. It is available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/excheq-income-tax-2042.htm   iv. In 1988 the top rate of income tax was reduced from 60 per cent to 40 per cent (the ‘higher rate’). The table below details the tax liabilities for higher rate payers from 1997/98 to 2009/10. Comparable figures are not available for the previous years.   Tax Year Tax Liability after Deductions £million1997/199832,9001998/199938,5901999/200045,7002000/200154,0002001/200256,4002002/200357,0002003/200457,1002004/200565,2002005/200676,4002006/200784,3002007/200893,2002008/200989,7002009/201082,800   v. Current and previous estimates of revenue from the 50% income tax rate can be found in the Office of Budget Responsibility’s March 2012 Economic Fiscal Outlook report, “Box 4.2: The additional rate of income tax”.   £ billion OutturnForecastLiabilities Basis2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Underlying Impact of 50p rate: Original EstimateOBR estimate June 2010 (TIE=0.35)0.02.52.52.72.93.23.5Current Costing10.00.70.60.60.70.70.8Difference0.0-1.8-1.9-2.1-2.2-2.5-2.7   1 Based on the current estimates cost of reduction in the rate from 50% to 40%   vi. Chart 5.1 of the HMRC Report details the number of taxpayers with incomes above £150,000 for the years 2000/01 to 2010/11 (see link above).   The estimated number of taxpayers liable to the additional rate of income tax for more recent years is published in the HMRC National Statistics table 2.1 available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306826/Table_2.1.pdf   vii. Estimates of income tax liabilities by income range are published in the HMRC National Statistics table 2.5 available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306857/Table_2.5.pdf Shares of income tax liabilities by percentile group are available in table 2.4 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306831/Table_2.4.pdf These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) outturn data up to 2011-12, and then projected to 2013-14 in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest economic and fiscal outlook.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost per child of providing childcare accounts for households in receipt of Tax Free Childcare will be; and how much funding the Government has set aside for the administration and running costs of the tax free childcare system.

Mr David Gauke: HM Treasury and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are working closely together to ensure that HMRC is funded to deliver Tax-Free Childcare in a way that provides value for money for the taxpayer. The costs of the scheme will be confirmed once the full details have been settled.

Stewart Ford

Guy Opperman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that Financial Conduct Authority disciplinary proceedings relating to Stewart Ford, formerly of Keydata Investment Services, are concluded as quickly as possible.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government appreciates the real difficulties and the serious implications the Keydata issue has had for investors and is following the situation closely.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry within the framework of statutory objectives and duties agreed by Parliament. Although the Treasury is responsible for the legal framework, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA. In particular the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and cannot direct its enforcement activities.

Ministry of Justice

Alcoholic Drinks: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many alcohol treatment orders were ordered in each local justice area in the North West in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

Mike Penning: The table below provides the information requested on the number of alcohol treatment orders ordered in each local justice area in the North West area between 2010 and 2013. Alcohol treatment requirements started by offenders in the North West Region, by Trust, annually, 2005-2013(1). Type of sentence2010201120122013 Community Order(2)Cheshire117121135105Cumbria64896761Lancashire6212414093Greater Manchester288354406387Merseyside197183209184Suspended sentence order(2)Cheshire42525845Cumbria17233138Lancashire44645562Greater Manchester119161193176Merseyside10687118125 Date SourceThese figures are provided by probation trusts on a monthly basis and include information on offenders starting and terminating probation supervision. (1) Statistics refer to offenders aged 18 and over as those under 18 are dealt with by the Youth Offending Teams.(2) Under Community Order or Suspended Sentence Order one or more of the 12 possible requirements must be added, such as supervision or alcohol treatment.

Written Questions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for which written questions tabled by the hon. Member for Shipley in 2014 which were answered with a promise to place information in the Library that information has (a) been and (b) not been placed in the Library.

Andrew Selous: My Department has conducted a check, and information for all the relevant written questions tabled by the hon. Member for Shipley in 2014 has now been placed in the Library. The relevant written questions are as follows:- 191214 – 191216- 191309 – 191215- 194407- 194406 - 194408- 204641 – 204642 – 204652 - 204653- 205007- 194430- 203440- 204505-204455- 204660- 202790-202791 The Department has put in place a robust system to keep track of commitments to place information in the Library and ensure that this is done promptly in future.

Prisons: Staff

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2014 to Question 199480, on what occasions prisons have used detached duty staff from other establishments since 1 April 2014.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff of each grade were used as part of the detached duty arrangements in each month since January 2014.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff of each grade were available for detached duty arrangements in each month since January 2014.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons have received how many detached duty staff of each grade in each month since January 2014.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on accommodation and subsistence for prison officers providing detached duty in prisons in each month since January 2014.

Andrew Selous: The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required. On average over the six month period (January to June 2014), less than 1% of Band 3 officers were provided on detached duty. A large proportion of the capacity is typically available from prisons that are in the process of closure or going through a re-role. This process temporarily releases a number of officers who are not supplied for specific occasions but are sent and received on a shift pattern throughout the week. The number of staff available for detached duty at any one time is a matter for operational judgement and takes account of overall staff numbers, levels of sickness, prisoner numbers and the regime and security requirements. The average weekly provision of band 3 prison officers, that were received as part of the nationally co-ordinated detached duty scheme, are shown in the tables below for April to June 2014. For information on the three months January to March I refer the Hon. Member to the reply given to him on 12 June 2014, Official Report, columns 316W to 318W. The nationally co-ordinated scheme relates to Band 3 Prison Officers only. Detached duty arrangements for more senior staff are managed locally and are not included in the information presented, as they are not recorded centrally. Table: Average weekly provision of Band 3 Prison Officers on detached duty to prisons in England & Wales, April - June 2014  GradeApr-14May-14Jun-14Band 3210160170Total210160170  We have maintained our policy of rounding figures to the nearest 10 in line with the department’s policy for presenting staffing data. The data is only accurate to this level because late updating of data within HR systems means that the unrounded figures recorded for a specific date have a margin of error around them. Totals are formed from unrounded parts prior to rounding. For this reason, rounded totals may not equal the sum of their rounded parts. Table: List of prisons receiving staff on detached duty by average weekly full-time equivalent provision and grade, April - June 2014  April 2014May 2014June 2014Staffing provisionBand 3Band 3Band 35 or fewerBedfordBedfordBullingdon BelmarshBrinsfordCookham Wood BrinsfordBrixtonElmley BrixtonCookham WoodGarth Cookham WoodEverthorpeGlen Parva EverthorpeFeatherstoneHewell Grange FeatherstoneGarthHindley GarthGlen ParvaLindholme Glen ParvaGuys MarshOnley Guys MarshHaveriggProject Mercury HaveriggHigh Security PrisonsStoke Heath Hewell GrangeHollowaySwaleside HollowayIsle of WightSwinfen Hall IsisLeicesterWormwood Scrubs LeicesterLincoln  LincolnLindholme  ManchesterMoorland  MoorlandOnley  OnleyProject Mercury  PentonvilleStafford  PortlandStandford Hill  Project MercuryStoke Heath  Sheppey ClusterSwaleside  StaffordWayland  Standford HillWinchester  StockenWoodhill  SwalesideWormwood Scrubs  Swinfen Hall   The Mount   Various London Prisons   Wayland   Winchester   Wormwood Scrubs  10AylesburyAylesburyAylesbury GartreeFelthamBrinsford High Security PrisonsGartreeChelmsford HindleyHewell GrangeFeltham Isle of WightHindleyGartree LindholmeIsisIsis LittleheyLittleheyNottingham NottinghamNottinghamPortland RochesterPentonvilleWerrington WerringtonPortland  WoodhillRochester   Swinfen Hall   Werrington 20High DownHigh DownHigh Down   Rochester30Feltham   Using centrally held financial records it is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to disaggregate the costs of accommodation and subsistence claimed for detached duty from other expenses claimed by staff.

Performance Appraisal

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many officials in his Department completed the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System in 2013-14; how many and what proportion of those officials received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark; and how many and what proportion (i) did and (ii) did not qualify for a bonus under that process.

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide the data requested at this time. Performance marking figures for 2013/14 will not be available for publication until 30 October at the earliest.

Probation: South Yorkshire

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many agency staff have been employed by the South Yorkshire Probation Service in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: The information re quested is not available as it was not collected centrally from South Yorkshire probation trust before the probation trust ceased to provide probation services on 31st May 2014.

Probation: South Yorkshire

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on consultancy staff by the South Yorkshire Probation Service in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: The information requested is not available as it was not collected centrally from South Yorkshire Probation Trust before the Probation Trust ceased to provide probation services on 31st May 2014.

Prisons: Bullying

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made of the incidence of bullying in prisons run by (a) HM Prison Service and (b) private sector bodies.

Andrew Selous: The National Offender Management Service takes the issue of violence in prison very seriously. Current policy contained in Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 64/2011 states that every verbal or physical act of violence must be challenged, and this includes bullying. Any prisoners engaging in violence, intimidation or bullying behaviour will have their privileges reviewed and may be subject to prosecution or disciplinary action. Bullying incidents are captured within the figures under “threats/abusive behaviour” offences. These together with associated punishments are published annually in Offender Management Statistics which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-december-2013-and-annual

Prisons: ICT

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what programmes are in place to help prisoners to become digitally literate.

Andrew Selous: The Offender Learning and Skills Service education providers offer a broad curriculum for digital and Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-related education in prisons. In the academic year 2013/14, total prisoner learner enrolments were in excess of 37,000 across over 80 ICT-related courses. ICT-related learning is frequently embedded into other vocational qualifications. Additionally, the Virtual Campus (VC), a secure web-based interactive learning tool, is available in 100 prisons and has 30,000 registered prisoner users. 26 Prisons ICT Academies (PICTAs) also offer specialist IT skills training in building and maintaining computer networks; and using Microsoft Office applications. All IT skills acquisition in custody takes place in a controlled environment and with very restricted secure controlled access to the internet.

Probation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy that any contracts signed with private sector companies until May 2015 for the provision of probation services do not contain clauses that provide for compensation for loss of profit in the event of the termination of those contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: Voluntary termination is a standard clause in government contracts. Voluntary termination compensation would only be payable to the contractor if the contract is terminated through no fault of the contractor. The purpose of the clauses is simply to ensure that in the event of termination for reasons beyond their control, bidders are left in no worse a position than they would have been had the contracts run their course. It would not be acceptable to expect providers to bear this risk, and many would price it into their bids, which would increase the costs of the contracts and result in poor value for money for the taxpayer.

European Convention on Human Rights

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government plans to sign and ratify Protocol 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Simon Hughes: The Government has no plans to do so.

Secure Colleges

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the opening and closing dates are for the Government's consultation on Secure College rules; and when he expects that the Government's response to that consultation will be published.

Andrew Selous: Secure Colleges will be a pioneering approach to youth custody, with education at the centre. By moving away from the traditional environment of bars on windows and giving these young people skills, qualifications and self-discipline we can help them turn their back on crime and become productive members of society.The consultation on plans for Secure College Rules opened on 16 October 2014 and will run for six weeks, closing on 27 November 2014. We will review responses to the consultation and respond in due course.The proposals set out in the consultation provide the framework for Secure Colleges to operate safely and meet the educational and rehabilitative needs of those in their care. We want to harness expertise and ideas from providers to develop operating models that deliver the best outcomes for these young people.

Prisoners: Pay

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was paid in unemployment pay to offenders in each prison in England Wales under paragraph 2.2.1 of Prison Service Order 4460 in the latest (a) week, (b) month and (c) year for which data is available.

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders in each prison in England and Wales were eligible for unemployment pay under paragraph 2.2.1 of Prison Service Order 4460 in the latest (a) week, (b) month and (c) year for which data is available.

Andrew Selous: The National Offender Management Service's central accounting system has a single accounting code for Public Sector prisoners' earnings. It does not separately identify unemployment pay or details of the number of prisoners in receipt of such payments.To obtain this information for both public and private prisons would require us to examine individual prisoner employment records from each establishment to establish those who are in receipt of unemployment pay last week, month and year and this would be a significant exercise and could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence

Islamic State

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency planning has been undertaken by his Department for any potential UK military involvement to tackle Islamic State in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois: The UK is part of the US led collation to counter ISIL taking military action in Iraq and is supportive of action against ISIL in Syria. We continue to scope further options for activity in Iraq in support of regional and other coalition partners. As promised in the written ministerial statement released to the House on 13 October 2014 (Official Report, column 10WS), the House will be kept informed of defence activities.



UK Operations Against ISIL
(Word Document, 28 KB)

Israel

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Israeli Defence Force officers have visited UK defence establishments since 1 July 2014; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Israel

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK military personnel have had official meetings with the Israeli Defence Force since 1 July 2014; and what the purpose of each such meeting was.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Combined Cadet Force

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which (a) private and (b) state schools have a Combined Cadet Force unit.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

National Security

Sir Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Ministerial Working Group announced in the White Paper National Security Through Technology, Cmd 8278.

Mr Philip Dunne: Defence and procurement issues have been considered by relevant Government Departments, rather than formerly through the Ministerial Working Group. The Group remains available, if needed, to consider cross-Government aspects of the new approach. A Defence and Security Export Ministerial Working Group has been established under the chairmanship of the Secretary of State for Defence to co-ordinate Defence Export issues across Government.

Arms Trade: Exports

Sir Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness of the arrangements and (b) capacity to provide international training by the UK armed forces to support exporters of defence equipment.

Mr Philip Dunne: The International Defence Engagement Strategy underpins the role that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) plays in supporting defence export campaigns. In line with this strategy the Department seeks to support all requests of assistance from the UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO), who are the Government lead for support to responsible defence exports. This can include the provision of training by UK Armed Forces as part of a proposed export sale. All such requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that they would not impact on available capacity, operational commitments or the availability of training places for UK personnel. Given that this is by definition a finite resource, with UKTI DSO, the MOD considers how this is best deployed across the span of ongoing export campaigns.

Defence: Procurement

Sir Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new approach towards engagement with overseas-based defence suppliers set out in the White Paper National Security Through Technology, Cmd 8278.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Defence and Security Industrial Engagement Policy (DSIEP) has made good progress since it was launched in the National Security Through Technology White Paper in February 2012. DSIEP tracked over £400 million of inward investment by overseas companies during 2012. This rose to nearly £500 million during 2013. With eight companies now signed up to DSIEP and discussions under way with several others, we hope that this figure will continue to rise. This compares favourably with the previous policy of Industrial Participation. In addition to this quantitative assessment, the Department is in the early stages of a Qualitative assessment of DSIEP and will be engaging with the DSIEP signatories and Defence academics to ensure this is robust.

Saudi Arabia

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who the heads are of the (a) Saudi Arabia National Guard Communications Project and (b) Ministry of Defence Saudi Armed Forces Project.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Saudi Arabia National Guard Communications Project Programme Director is Brigadier Tim Watts. The Director, Saudi Armed Forces Projects isAir Vice-Marshal Ian C Morrison CBE.

Military Operations

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans the UK has to include gender advisory capacity as part of its recognised military capability; whether the UK plans to contribute any full-time gender advisers to (a) the rapid reaction force announced by the Prime Minister on 8 September 2014 and (b) other NATO operations and missions in the near future; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Afghanistan

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 245W, on Afghanistan, whether UK personnel embedded at Creech airbase have flown US aircraft outside Afghan airspace in support of NATO International Security Assistance Force missions in Afghanistan.

Mr Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor (Andrew Robathan) on 24 April 2013 (Official Report, columns 905W-906W) to the hon. Member for Rainham and Gillingham (Rehman Chishti). 



Unmanned Air Vehicles
(Word Document, 26.5 KB)

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any UK Reapers or personnel from the UK Reaper Force Squadron have moved from Afghanistan to Qatar or another location in the Gulf in the last year.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British service personnel are serving in (a) Afghanistan and (b) other countries.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Qatar

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what UK armed forces assets and personnel are currently based at al-Udeid.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Islamic State

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what UK armed forces (a) assets and (b) personnel will be used in attacking ISIL targets in Iraq.

Mr Mark Francois: The UK currently has eight Tornado GR4 aircraft assigned to strike operations in Iraq. As of 8 October, there were 133 personnel deployed to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to support these missions.

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the planned out-of-service date is for Tornado fast jets.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Mr Luff) gave on 25 June 2012 (Official Report, column 5) to the right hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss). My hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (The Rt Hon Mark Francois) also wrote to the hon. Member on 2 October 2014 (reference MSU-04-04-02-21) in respect of plans for Tornado GR4.  



Military Aircraft
(Word Document, 24.5 KB)




letter dated 2 October
(PDF Document, 25.65 KB)

Iraq

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether forward air controllers are directing airstrikes in Iraq.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Training

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many training exercises HM Armed Forces have participated in (a) Norway, (b) Finland, (c) Sweden, (d) the US, (e) Canada, (f) Greenland, (g) Russia and (h) Iceland; how many personnel took part in each exercise; and how many such exercises were held (i) above and (ii) below the Arctic Circle.

Mr Mark Francois: HM Armed Forces have participated in 86 training exercises during the last 12 months: in Finland, Norway, Sweden, the US, Canada and Iceland. There have been no exercises in Greenland or Russia. Of these a total of 12 were conducted above the Arctic Circle, in Norway, Finland and Canada. A breakdown of the number of exercises, the number of personnel who took part and whether the exercise was held above, or below, the Arctic Circle is provided in the tables. CountryLead Service For Exercise (Ex)Number of personnel Exercise held North or South of the Arctic circle  FinlandNavy – 1 Ex50NorthNorway  Army110South NAVY500North NAVY20North NAVY50North NAVY20North RAF17North RAF19North RAF38Both RAF38Both RAF2South RAF8SouthNorway Total11 Ex8223 South/6 North / 2 Both  Sweden  Army6South NAVY50South RAF160SouthSweden Total3 Ex2163 SouthUS  Army100South ArmyNot RecordedSouth Army100South Army50South Army150South Army4South Army11South ArmyNot RecordedSouth Army40South ArmyNot RecordedSouth ArmyNot RecordedSouth Army40South Army1500South ArmyNot RecordedSouth Army50South Army100South Army110South Army35South Army230South Army90South Army50South Army8South Army100South ArmyNot RecordedSouth ArmyNot RecordedSouth ArmyNot RecordedSouth ArmyNot RecordedSouth Army50South Army50South Army35South Army150South ArmyNot RecordedSouth Army210South Army14South Army50South Army50South NAVY600South Navy150South Navy50South Navy50South RAF522South RAF210South RAF37South RAF1South RAF5South RAF26South RAF31South RAF114South RAF29South RAF42South RAF50South RAF27South RAF100South RAF32SouthUS Total41 Ex5453SouthCanada CanadaArmy800SouthCanadaArmy120SouthCanadaArmy178SouthCanadaArmy135SouthCanadaArmy900SouthCanadaArmy2400SouthCanadaArmy2400SouthCanadaArmy125SouthCanadaArmy40SouthCanadaArmy140SouthCanadaArmy150SouthCanadaArmy90SouthCanadaArmy65SouthCanadaArmy2605SouthCanadaArmy895SouthCanadaArmy2431SouthCanadaArmy130SouthCanadaArmy420SouthCanadaArmy120SouthCanadaArmy1420SouthCanadaArmy1420SouthCanadaArmy1420SouthCanadaArmy1420SouthCanadaArmy46SouthCanadaArmy150SouthCanadaArmy120SouthCanadaArmy11SouthCanadaRAF47SouthCanadaRAF2NorthCanada Total29 Ex2020028 South / 1 North  GreenlandNo ExercisesRussiaNo Exercises  IcelandNavy13South

Defence Infrastructure Organisation

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support is available to tenants (a) with and (b) without dependents who are evicted by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation on renting in the private and social sector and mortgage applications.

Mr Philip Dunne: Prior to leaving their Service all Armed Forces personnel, regardless of whether they have dependents, are entitled to a wide-ranging resettlement package which assists them to make a successful transition to civilian life. This package includes advice on housing and financial options and can be supplemented by independent financial advice.The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government and Devolved Administrations to ensure that Service personnel do not experience any disadvantage as a result of their military service when applying for social housing. The MOD Referrals Scheme assists Service leavers, and their families, with social housing applications following discharge.In terms of mortgage applications, we have launched the £200 million Forces Help to Buy scheme to encourage and support home ownership among Service personnel, both for those in Service and for those preparing to leave. This scheme is available to all eligible personnel, regardless of whether they have dependants.The MOD has also provided support to the Riverside Veteran Housing Research Project’s scheme for ex-Service personnel; the Mike Jackson House in Aldershot (which accepts dependents) and the Beacon at Catterick. These focus on helping individuals at risk of homelessness to develop independent living skills and find suitable permanent accommodation, training and employment.

DSG Ashchurch

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Conditioning report commissioned from Babcock International, dated 3 February 2011, on the approximate costs of repairing his Department's site at Ashchurch; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average waiting time is for personal independence payments from application to the date of award.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average waiting time is for applicants for personal independence payments for a face-to-face assessment if required.

Mr Mark Harper: Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance times and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of PIP system performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published when they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.

Universal Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that work search and work availability requirements under universal credit are applied in a way that respects the particular training, skills, work patterns and  job search methodology of performers.

Esther McVey: There is a general expectation on Universal Credit claimants subject to work search and work availability requirements to look for full-time work. These requirements can be limited as set out in Regulation 97 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013. Work-related requirements on claimants under Universal Credit will be tailored to the needs, experience and circumstances of the individual.

Personal Independence Payment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what pilot or feasibility studies were carried out by his Department on managing the change over from disability living allowance to personal independence payment.

Mr Mark Harper: Details regarding the introduction of Personal Independence Payment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/simplifying-the-welfare-system-and-making-sure-work-pays/supporting-pages/introducing-personal-independence-payment.

Entertainers

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will introduce sector-specific guidance to his Department's decision-makers on work patterns and job searching in the entertainment industry.

Esther McVey: The department has robust guidance in place for decision makers which sets out the requirements for working patterns and job search. We have no current plans to issue sector specific guidance to decision makers.

Employment and Support Allowance: Durham

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants have had their employment and support allowance stopped due to delays in processing medical certificates in (a) Bishop Auckland constituency and (b) Spennymoor in each year since 2010.

Mr Mark Harper: Claim would not be stopped for any delays in processing medical certificates. If there are delays in receipt of a medical certificate from the customer unfortunately, this can delay payment being made.

Universal Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that private sector job search providers delivering under universal credit are aware of the typical work patterns and job search methodology of performers in the entertainment industry.

Esther McVey: The Government believes that local providers are best placed to understand their local labour market and identify the most effective way of helping people into sustained work. They have been given the freedom to personalise support for an individual in a way that fits the local labour market.

Personal Independence Payment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many enquiry forms for assessment for personal independence payments have been sent to people in (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) the UK; and how many of those who have applied have been waiting for a decision for longer than 26 weeks.

Mr Mark Harper: Once a claimant has made a claim for Personal Independence Payment they are sent a “How your disability effects you” (PIP2) form to complete. Statistics on PIP registrations are published at; https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/355654/pip-july-2014.xls   These show that as at 31st July 2014, 1,010 people had registered a claim for PIP in Hemsworth constituency and 490,400 people had registered a claim for PIP in Great Britain.   Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance times and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of PIP system performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published as soon as they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Kent

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) Dartford constituency and (b) Kent have claimed jobseeker's allowance in each of the last five years; and if he will estimate the annual cost to the public purse of such claims.

Esther McVey: The information requested is publicly available. Benefit expenditure for parliamentary constituencies and local authorities is published at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2014 Information on Jobseeker’s Allowance caseloads is available at: http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/select/wizpopular.asp by choosing “claimant count with rates and proportions” and following the steps to select the required geography and time period.

Universal Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will extend the start-up period under universal credit for entertainers and other groups whose chosen profession has a large lead-in time before they have an established business.

Esther McVey: The DWP recognises the need for claimants who wish to establish themselves as self-employed within their chosen vocation to be given time to establish themselves and develop their business. This is why we have put in place the start-up period, which is a one year period that enables new enterprises to develop and provides them with the financial room to grow. Within this period claimants will receive their full entitlement to Universal Credit support. The Department believes that setting the start-up period at one year strikes the right balance between enabling enterprise to grow whilst protecting the taxpayer from supporting unviable businesses.

Work Capability Assessment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment he has made of the (a) demand and (b) waiting times for work capability assessments conducted by a (i) doctor and (ii) nurse or physiotherapist health care professional.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the ratio of doctor health care professionals to nurse or physiotherapist health care professionals currently carrying out work capability assessments is in (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) the UK.

Mr Mark Harper: Doctors, nurses and physiotherapists are all trained to the same high level to carry out disability assessments on behalf of the DWP.Staffing levels are not captured at Constituency level. As of October 2014 there are 194 doctors and 576 nurses or physiotherapists in the UK carrying out work capability assessments.

Employment and Support Allowance: Durham

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average length of time is taken to process medical certificates of people in (a) Bishop Auckland constituency and (b) Spennymoor.

Mr Mark Harper: We are unable to provide specific information for these locations however on receipt of a medical certificate into the office we aim to update computer records within 24 hours of receipt.

Work Capability Assessment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are currently waiting to see a doctor health care professional for the purposes of a work capability assessment in (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) the UK.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are currently waiting to see a nurse or physiotherapist health care professional for the purposes of a work capability assessment in (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) the UK.

Mr Mark Harper: Cases are either identified as having to be seen by a doctor only, or they can be seen by a doctor, nurse or physiotherapist. Therefore, there are no cases which are specifically ring fenced for assessment by nurses or physiotherapists.There are currently 41,109 people waiting for an assessment with a doctor.Data is not captured at constituency level.

Work Capability Assessment

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average time was taken between an employment and support allowance applicant undergoing a work capability assessment and advice being submitted to a decision maker for decision in the most recent year for which data is available.

Mr Mark Harper: Completed assessment reports are available to the Department within 24 hours of the assessment taking place.  A regular sample of cases is submitted for audit before being available to the Department. For the last year around 9% of cases were audited, these being available to the Department in an average of 15 working days after the assessment.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the causes of delays by his Department in providing paperwork to the HM Courts and Tribunal Service; and what guidance his Department issues on the number of times an appeal case may be delayed before it is deemed unreasonable.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeal cases are delayed because his Department has not submitted the required information to HM Courts and Tribunal Service in time.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested is not available.

Universal Credit: Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is for the implementation of universal credit in Brighton and Hove; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Harper: I refer the hon, member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend, Iain Duncan Smith on Monday 13th October 2014. http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/2014-October/13th%20October/17.DWP-welfare-reform.pdf. The Secretary of State announced the next stage of implementing Universal Credit to all remaining Jobcentres and Local Authorities as we progress national expansion through 2015/16 and secure delivery of Universal Credit across Great Britain. Currently, officials in my Department are working with delivery partners on the detailed schedule for national roll out. The finalised details will be made available in due course.

Social Security Benefits

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average wait for a mandatory reconsideration decision is in the (a) Bishop Auckland and (b) Spennymoor areas.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested is not currently available. DWP statisticians are currently working to collate and quality assure data on Mandatory Reconsideration. The Department has committed to publishing statistics when Departmental statisticians judge that the data meets the standards set out in the UK Statistics Authority’s Codes of Practice. The aim is to release an initial set of official statistics on Mandatory Reconsideration by the end of 2014.

Carers' Benefits

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what change there has been in the level of carers' benefits since May 2010.

Mr Mark Harper: The weekly rate of Carer’s Allowance since 2010 is as follows: April 2010 £53.90April 2011 £55.55April 2012 £58.45April 2013 £59.75April 2014 £61.35

Housing Benefit: Brent

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in the London Borough of Brent who have had their benefits capped under the household benefit cap have subsequently moved out of that borough.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available and can only be be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2014 to Question 205882, what the full cost, including apportioned indirect costs, is of initiating payment of employment and support allowance (ESA) at the assessment rate; what the full cost is of an ESA change; and how many changes ESA claimants require on average per year.

Mr Mark Harper: Please see the table below:  Operational Operating CostsUnit CostTotal DWPOperating CostsUnit Cost - Total CostsESA Claims£21,639,678.74£25.09£59,680,390.98£66.66ESA Changes (Incl WCA)£61,465,559.37£12.74£143,414,434.36£28.52  Number of CustomersESA Changes ProcessedAverage Number of Changes ESA Changes1,880,8225,028,8742.67   The cost of initiating payment of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) at the assessment rate is provided in ESA Claims. We have provided the annual costs for 13/14 and the Unit Costs. The Unit Cost is the average cost of one ESA Claim through the process. We have provided the annual cost for ESA changes 13/14 and the unit costs. The Unit Cost is the average cost of one ESA change being made. We have calculated the average number of changes required by ESA claimants in 13/14 by dividing the number of ESA changes processed by the number of ESA customers.

Personal Independence Payment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that personal independence payments applications are not delayed to the extent that supporting medical information becomes outdated.

Mr Mark Harper: We keep the time taken to process claims under constant review and we are absolutely committed to improving performance. We are already seeing improvements to our processes and outcomes and will continue to work further to reduce processing times and levels of work outstanding.

Personal Independence Payment

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish data on the average wait for an assessment for a personal independence payment.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for personal independence payments have taken longer than 26 weeks to receive a decision.

Mr Mark Harper: Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance times and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of PIP system performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published once/when they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.

Personal Independence Payment

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have applied for personal independence payments are waiting to receive a decision.

Mr Mark Harper: The latest available data for personal independence payment claims, including details on the number of people who have applied for the benefit and the number of claims that have been cleared, have been published and are available from the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-july-2014

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people stopped claiming employment and support allowance (ESA) in 2013 after gaining insufficient points in a Work Capability Assessment; and how many such people were claiming jobseeker's allowance within four weeks of their ESA claim ending.

Mr Mark Harper: It is possible to qualify for ESA through the application of Regulations 29(2)(b) and 35(2)(b) where insufficient points have been allocated in a Work Capability Assessment. It is thus not possible to answer the first part of this question. The information requested in the second part is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many scooters have been allocated under the mobility element of personal independence payments in the last year.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cars have been allocated under the mobility element of personal independence payments in the last year.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints about Motability have been raised with his Department in the last three years.

Mr Mark Harper: Motability is an independent registered charity. The Department works closely with Motability and facilitates the transfer of benefit to Motability on behalf of those claimants who have chosen to join the Motability schemes.Responsibility for the charity’s policies and operational strategy falls to the Governors and Director of Motability. Motability is wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme including collating its own management information. Questions about the number of cars and scooters allocated by Motability can be sent to: Declan O'Mahony, Director, Motability, Warwick House, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex CM19 5PX.Information about complaints received about Motability is not available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures he uses to assess the timeliness of payments in the benefits system.

Esther McVey: The department uses a range of metrics to track and manage timeliness of payments within the benefits system. Our transparency indicators also include an overall productivity measure.

Universal Credit: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants in Warrington have been sanctioned for failure to attend a mandatory work placement after they have reported a change of circumstances but before they are advised of their entitlement to another benefit.

Esther McVey: The information you have requested is not available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit in September 2013 which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics

Universal Credit: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken by Warrington Jobcentre Plus is to review the conditionality group of a universal credit claimant who reports a change of circumstances.

Esther McVey: The information you have requested is currently not available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit in September 2013 which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics

Motability

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times in the last three years Ministers in his Department have met executives from Motability.

Mr Mark Harper: Ministers have regularly met Lord Sterling, the unpaid chairman of Motability. They have also conducted visits to the Motability charity, at which executives were present.

Personal Independence Payment

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to his Department of the mobility element of personal independence payments.

Mr Mark Harper: The mobility element of Personal Independence Payment is estimated to account for around 36 per cent of total spending on the benefit.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has conducted trials in gassing of badger sets to control the spread of tuberculosis in cattle.

George Eustice: Research into alternative methods for dealing with the risk of M. bovis from badgers (e.g. sett-based culling methods and non-lethal methods) is underway. This includes investigations into the potential use of gas as a sett-based means of humane culling.   These tests for the potential use of carbon monoxide will not involve badgers.

White Fish: Conservation

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of progress made by the European Commission on steps to sustainably manage bass stocks using technical conservation measures; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: As a result of discussions facilitated by the European Commission, there is now a consensus amongst interested Member States to significantly reduce targeting of bass across all sectors exploiting that stock. The Commission has also requested advice from the North Sea, North Western Waters and South West Waters Advisory Councils on the appropriate short term measures to apply in 2015, and the development of a long term management plan. We expect EU bass management proposals to be published before the end of the year.   The UK Government will continue to push for effective EU-wide conservation measures that will ensure the stock recovers and becomes sustainable by working with the Commission and interested Member States. We will consider the need for any further domestic management of bass in the light of these European discussions.

Water Industry Act 1991

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many contraventions of the Water Industry Act 1991 there have been in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Dan Rogerson: Between 2009 and 2013 there have been 12 contraventions under sections of the Water Industry Act 1991 in England, with one of these occurring in the North West. There were no contraventions in the Lancashire area.

Clean Air Act 1993

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to which local authorities penalties have been issued for breaches of the Clean Air Act 1993 since May 2010.

Dan Rogerson: The Clean Air Act includes fines for various offences to be enforced by local authorities through the magistrate courts. It does not provide for enforcement on local authorities. As the regulators, records of these should be held by local authorities. There is no requirement in the Act for local authorities to notify Defra of fines levied. Therefore, the department does not hold data for offences recorded as issued by local authorities for companies or private individuals.

Ozone: East of England

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how and to whom the pollution alert on ozone in Eastern England was distributed on 18 July 2014.

Dan Rogerson: Defra issued an air pollution alert to the public on 18 July this year due to levels of ozone measured at Sibton (189µgm3) and St Osyth (185µgm3) in Eastern England. The alert was issued when hourly measurements exceeded the ozone public information threshold of 180 µg/m3 (micrograms per metre cubed) as defined in the Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC.   The alert was issued on Defra’s UK_Air website at: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/latest/alerts, and air quality Twitter feed @defraUKAir, giving details of the locations and measurements, as well as relevant health advice. Members of the public can also receive air quality information such as alerts by signing up to email bulletins at http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/subscribe.   Defra works closely with Public Health England to ensure information and health advice is provided to the public when pollution levels are elevated.

Western Sahara

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any UK trawlers are fishing in the waters of Western Sahara under the new protocol to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement; and what her policy is on utilising the UK allocation under that agreement.

George Eustice: There are currently no UK vessels fishing under the new protocol to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement. Decisions on any quota allocation and licensing would be made by UK authorities under the existing regulatory regime.

Smoke and Chimney Gases

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which smoke control areas are currently designated in England and Wales.

Dan Rogerson: The power to designate smoke control areas under Part 3 of the Clean Air Act 1993 lies with local authorities as the regulators. Under the Act local authorities are required to publish details of the areas created in the London Gazette and their local newspapers prior to creating the associated smoke control orders. Therefore, the definitive lists of designated areas are held by individual local authorities.

Dogs: Tagging

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the statement of 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 15WS, on irresponsible dog ownership, what the timetable is for implementing compulsory microchipping of dogs in England by 2016.

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the statement of 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 15WS, on irresponsible dog ownership, when she intends to bring forward legislative proposals on implementation of compulsory microchipping in England.

George Eustice: The Government will be laying draft regulations shortly to make it compulsory for all dogs in England to be microchipped from 2016. The regulations will be subject to the affirmative procedure before coming into force. Defra is working with all relevant stakeholders to communicate the requirement to dog breeders and owners beforehand.

Pesticides

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) assessed on levels of resistance of crops to protective chemicals sprayed on them by farmers.

Dan Rogerson: Defra has not directly commissioned research on the levels of resistance of crops to protective chemicals sprayed on them by farmers because the Health and Safety Executive carries out an assessment of the impact of pesticide products on target and non-target plants. We can be confident in this work because under the European Union regulatory regime for pesticides, the Health and Safety Executive, as the UK pesticides regulator, assesses and authorises pesticide products for specific uses following comprehensive evaluations of detailed applications for authorisation from pesticide manufacturers.

Floods: Dartford

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been spent on flood defences in Dartford in the last 12 months; and what future such spending is planned in the next 12 months.

Dan Rogerson: Revenue spend The Dartford area covers three flood risk management systems and one major structure - the Dartford Creek Barrier. Spend for last 12 months (£K)Remaining budget for 2014/15 (£K)Funding needs identified for 2015/16 (£K) (not yet approved)Thames71.159.780.7Dartford4.4023.7South Darent0017.3Dartford Creek Barrier135.065.0135.0 Capital spend In the next 12 months we will carry out an initial assessment to assess flood risk in Dartford town centre from the fluvial River Darent at a cost of approximately £50K. Capital expenditure on the Dartford Creek Barrier has been as follows:  Spend for last 12 months (£K)Remaining budget for 2014/15 (£K)Funding needs identified for 2015/16 (£K) (not yet approved)Dartford Creek Barrier65.0120.0200.0

Milk: Prices

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations she has received on changes in the price of milk and its effect on milk producers.

George Eustice: Dairy UK wrote to the Secretary of State recently requesting a meeting to further discuss the global dairy market situation and its impacts on domestic farmgate milk prices. The Secretary of State and I will be meeting Dairy UK and milk processors later this month.   I have also discussed this issue with farmers and their representatives and discussed the issue with Alex Ferguson ahead of publication of his review into the voluntary dairy supply chain code.   Defra has received a small number of letters from farmers and others on the subject of milk prices.

Floods: Shropshire

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency spent on flood defence measures in Shropshire in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

Dan Rogerson: Between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2014, the Environment Agency spent £4,370,000 on flood alleviation in Shropshire. This figure can only be split over financial years as follows:2010/11 £2,868,000 2011/12 £493,000 2012/13 £526,000 2013/14 £483,000 These figures include capital, revenue maintenance and the Government recovery expenditure following the winter of 2013/14.

Cats

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the cat population which has been neutered in each of the last five years.

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the UK cat population classed as (a) owned and (b) stray in each of the last five years.

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of cats in each region and constituent part of the UK which have been neutered in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: The Government does not keep estimated numbers of cats nor any breakdown of the type requested. However, according to the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association’s Pet Population report of 2014 there are an estimated 8 million domestic cats in this country. The corresponding reports for the four previous years gave the following estimates: 2013 – 8.5 million; 2012 – 8 million; 2011 – 8 million; 2010 – 8 million.

Tree Felling

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions the Forestry Commission has brought for the illegal felling of trees in each of the last five years.

Dan Rogerson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 September 2014, Official Report, columns 601W – 602W.

White Fish: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help bass recovery through (a) bass nursery areas, (b) a minimum landing size for bass, (c) evidence-based policies and (d) other measures.

George Eustice: As a result of discussions facilitated by the European Commission, there is now a consensus amongst interested Member States to significantly reduce targeting of bass across all sectors exploiting that stock. The Commission has also requested advice from the North Sea, North Western Waters and South West Waters Advisory Councils on the appropriate short term measures to apply in 2015, and the development of a long term management plan. We expect EU bass management proposals to be published before the end of the year.   The UK Government will continue to push for effective EU-wide conservation measures that will ensure the stock recovers and becomes sustainable by working with the Commission and interested Member States. We will consider the need for any further domestic management of bass in the light of these European discussions.

Hedges and Ditches

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued on maintenance of hedges (a) during the summer months and (b) at other times of the year.

George Eustice: We have not issued any new hedgerow maintenance guidance this year. Existing hedgerow maintenance guidance can be found on the ‘Hedgelink’ website at http://www.hedgelink.org.uk/hedgerow-management.htm For famers claiming Single Payment Scheme under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the ‘Guide to Cross Compliance in England’ is issued in December for the following year. The August CAP leaflet sent to farmers indicated our intention to extend the annual hedge cutting ban by one month to 31st August. Final guidance on all cross compliance rules for 2015 will be issued in December.

Dogs: Animal Breeding

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of dogs born in the UK (a) within and (b) outside the scope of breeding licensing in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: The Government has not made any assessment of the numbers of dogs born within or outside the licensing regime.

Animal Welfare

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had on animal welfare issues with its counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

George Eustice: Defra has been in regular contact with colleagues in the Devolved Administrations on such issues during this period.

Agriculture: Research

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the financial return from her Department's investment in agricultural research and development since 2010.

George Eustice: Defra has not made any assessment of the financial returns on investment in agricultural research since 2010 as this is considered too short a time frame to fully evaluate the impact of research and development. However, research used for the ex-ante evaluation of the £160 million UK Agri-tech strategy suggests strong returns to UK public research of the order of 17-60% per year (internal rate of return) for a period of 25 years¹.An ex-post evaluation design and baseline study for the Agri-tech strategy is currently being developed by Defra, BIS and DfID in conjunction with evaluation experts SQW. We are also developing a framework for estimating the value for money of new Defra research and development activities.¹ Thirtle and Holding (2003) “Productivity of UK Agriculture: Causes and Constraints”

Livestock: Transport

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve the welfare of animals during transportation.

George Eustice: The Government continues to work with the EU Commission and other Member States to ensure better enforcement of the rules on the welfare of animals during transport.

Water Supply

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on reduction of the virtual footprint of UK water usage.

Dan Rogerson: The Government recognises we must ensure a sustainable and secure water supply for the future. Defra encourages businesses to become more water efficient by, for example, incentivising the purchase of water efficient technology and providing business tools to manage their water use so as to save water and money.   Through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Defra supports sector-led action to understand and reduce the environmental impacts of products sold in the UK. In some cases, this includes looking at their water footprint. For example, signatories of the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan have committed to a 15% reduction in water use per tonne of clothing by 2020.   As part of its wider work to ensure the UK has a secure, environmentally sustainable and affordable supply of food, the UK government is encouraging the UK food and drink industry to use resources more sustainably. Lead trade associations and major businesses have developed sustainability strategies, which include targets to measure and reduce water use. For example, the Federation House Commitment aims to help reduce overall water usage across the food and drink sector by 20% by 2020.   We are also looking to improve water efficiency internationally through ongoing negotiations on the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

Agriculture: Carbon Emissions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to reduce carbon dioxide release from agricultural practices while maintaining and increasing crop yields.

George Eustice: Carbon dioxide emissions make up 7% of total agricultural greenhouse gas emissions based on the UK National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases. Government and industry efforts have therefore been focused to date on the challenge of supporting crop yields while reducing nitrous oxide (53%) and methane (39%) emissions.   Defra research indicates that the major sources of carbon dioxide emissions on farm are field operations, heating of greenhouses and livestock buildings, and grain drying.   Since 2010 Defra has actively engaged with industry to develop a greenhouse gas (GHG) Action Plan which they are now taking forward. The action plan includes implementation of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy generation on farms. The major cost effective energy related emissions savings are supported by DECC’s wider energy efficiency initiatives such as the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Timber: Imports

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to reduce the import of any hardwood timber from tropical forests.

Dan Rogerson: The import of hardwood timber from tropical forests is governed by a robust regulatory framework.   The EU Timber Regulation prevents the import of illegally-harvested timber into the EU by laying down obligations on operators who place timber and timber products on the market and those who subsequently trade in them. It was implemented in the UK by the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations in March 2013.   The UK supports the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process between the EU and timber producing countries, many of which contain tropical forests, under the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. The VPA process helps timber producing countries to stop illegal logging by driving improvements in the regulation and governance of the forest sector. Once in operation, VPAs will ensure that timber and timber products exported to the EU come from legal sources.   In addition, the import of a number of endangered hardwood species into the UK is controlled under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) licensing system. The system aims to ensure that international trade does not threaten the survival of endangered species and is implemented in the EU by the Wildlife Trade Regulations.

Home Office

HM Passport Office

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff have been transferred to HM Passport Office from other Government departments and agencies in each of the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: The following table provides the number of staff who have transferred to Her Majesty's Passport Office from other Government departments from 1st August 2013 to 31st July 2014. These figures relate to the normal movement of staff between departments to take up employment opportunities.Other than staff that have transferred to HM Passport Office to take up employment opportunities, there has only been one member of staff temporarily transferred into HM Passport Office from outside of the Home Office, which was from the Department of Works and Pensions, from 24 June to 31 August 2014.In addition to the figures shown in the table, a total of 226 staff were temporarily transferred from the Home Office into HM Passport Office between June and August 2014.Table: Number of staff who transferred to HM Passport Office from other Government Departments 1 August 2013 to 31 July 2014  Aug-13**Sep-1315Oct-135Nov-130Dec-13**Jan-1441Feb-1428Mar- 1422Apr-1415May-149Jun-1419Jul-146Total167Note: Statistical disclosure controls have been applied to comply with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice and the Data Protection Act. Some information has been redacted and replaced with ** to prevent the disclosure of numbers fewer than 5.

Illegal Immigrants: Greater London

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) businesses, (b) registry offices and (c) housing services in (i) London and (ii) Greenwich have been targeted under Operation Skybreaker since that operation began.

James Brokenshire: A full evaluation will be conducted at the end of Operation Skybreaker which runs from July 2014 to December 2014 .

Illegal Immigrants: Greater London

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) businesses, (b) registry offices and (c) housing services have been raided in (i) total and (ii) Greenwich under Operation Skybreaker since that operation began.

James Brokenshire: A full evaluation will be conducted at the end of Operation Skybreaker which runs from July 2014 to December 2014 .

Illegal Immigrants: Greater London

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the performance of Operation Skybreaker; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: A full evaluation will be conducted at the end of Operation Skybreaker which runs from July 2014 to December 2014.

Illegal Immigrants: Greater London

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she had with (a) local hon. Members and (b) local councillors representing (i) Greenwich and (ii) other London boroughs prior to the commencement of Operation Skybreaker; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Senior managers in Immigration Enforcement began engagement with partners and local community groups from June 2014. This included briefing local authority leaders, chief executives, officials, and councillors, where they accepted the offers. This included liaison with officials in Greenwich Council.Engagement with partners and the local community will continue throughout the operation.

Illegal Immigrants: Greater London

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the aim is of Operation Skybreaker; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Operation Skybreaker is a pilot approach to encourage greater compliance with the immigration rules in 10 pilot areas. Home Office Immigration Enforcement has intensified its local partnership engagement and sought to assist local businesses on how to conduct right to work checks on their employees.The aim of the pilot approach is to test new ways of working and identify how best to reduce illegal immigration, which is bad for both British citizens and those who have come to this country legally.This is a routine, local, operational matter and significant engagement has been undertaken with those involved in partnership working and the communities.

Asylum: Children

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in how many immigration or asylum cases during the last 12 months where a person has claimed to be under the age of 18, that person has been treated as an adult on the basis that their appearance or demeanour strongly suggests they are significantly over the age of 18.

James Brokenshire: This information is not currently published or readily available and could be obtained only through the examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.The Home Office is looking into ways to improve the statistical recording of age dispute information.

Refuges: Females

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will discuss with the (a) Minister for Women and Equalities and (b) the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government the implications for the Government's policies on the protection of victims of domestic violence of the recommednations of the Women's Aid SOS campaign on new models of funding for the national network of specialist women's refuges; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The Home Secretary and I regularly discuss all issues related to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls with other Government Departments, including through the Inter-Ministerial Group on VAWG which she chairs. The Group meets quarterly and oversees the co-ordination of cross-departmental activity to tackle VAWG and provides a forum for discussing issues such as Women’s Aid’s SOS campaign, and the funding of women’s refuges. I discussed this issue, amongst others, with the Minister for Women and Equalities last week.

Entry Clearances: Graduates

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Graduate Entrepreneur Tier 1 visas have been issued for use by each UK higher education institution since April 2013.

James Brokenshire: Graduate Entrepreneur Tier 1 visas are issued directly to individual applicants, who are endorsed by qualifying UK Higher Education Institutions, or UKTI. The following tables show the number of endorsements by HEIs since April 2013 where a UK entry clearance has been issued or leave to remain in the UK has been granted. 



Endorsements by HEIs
(Word Document, 18.07 KB)

Illegal Immigrants

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which countries the UK has readmission agreements for the return of nationals found illegally in the UK.

James Brokenshire: The UK participates in EU readmissions agreements with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Macau, Moldova, Montenegro, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Ukraine. The UK has bilateral readmission agreements with Algeria, South Korea and Switzerland. The UK has memoranda of understanding for the return of nationals found illegally in the UK with Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, South Sudan and Vietnam.

Human Trafficking

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who entered the UK in 2014 and claimed to have been trafficked were subsequently found to have no leave to remain in the UK.

James Brokenshire: So far in 2014, 1166 people have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism as a potential victim of trafficking and have not been granted leave as a result of that referral. This figure includes cases that are still awaiting a decision and may include individuals that have been granted leave under a different category.

Immigration Controls: Commonwealth

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will establish dedicated entry gates for Commonwealth citizens at UK ports and airports.

James Brokenshire: Eligible Commonwealth citizens may apply to join the Government's registered traveller scheme, via https://www.gov.uk/registered-traveller, allowing them to use ePassport gates at the UK border.

Human Trafficking

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many alleged victims of human trafficking have been deported since 1 May 2013.

James Brokenshire: The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is a framework for identifying victims of trafficking and enabling them to access care and support. If the referred person is conclusively identified as a victim of trafficking, what happens next will depend on their immigration status and their own wishes. If it is decided by the Home Office that the person was not trafficked, and there are no other circumstances that would give them a right to live in the UK, they will be offered support to voluntarily return to their country of origin. There will be cases where a person is not entitled to leave to remain on the basis of their referral to the NRM, but do qualify for leave to remain for another reason. The NRM process runs parallel to the considerations of other applications for leave.Since 1st May 2013, 116 people entered into the National Referral Mechanism as a potential victim of trafficking have been removed or have voluntarily departed the UK.

Asylum: Advisory Services

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that asylum seekers receive face-to-face advice when making or following up a complaint.

James Brokenshire: Asylum seekers are encouraged to raise any issues they have with the Home Office in person when they attend their reporting office or the asylum screening unit. Where someone is unhappy with the service provided to them, they are advised to raise this immediately so that the issue can be resolved at the point where the service was provided. Where someone is not happy with the way their verbal complaint was handled or would like to make a formal complaint they are advised to make a written complaint. Written complaints are handled by Responder hubs who aim to respond to the complainant within 20 working days following an investigation of their complaint. All complaints are acknowledged and contact information is provided both at the initial stage and at the outcome.Advice on how to make a complaint is available on the Home Office website at: www.gov.uk/visas-immigration. Leaflets and posters providing this information are displayed in most Home Office premises open to the public.

Private Finance Initiative

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total private finance initiative liabilities of her Department are for the next 20 years; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The unitary charge for the 2 Marsham Street PFI project (the Home Office HQ) from financial year 2014/15 to 2030/31 (when the contract finishes) is estimated to be £883.22 million.The unitary charge for the Airwave programme from 2014/15 until 2020 (when the contract finishes) is forecasted to be £872.42 million.The Home Office provides revenue support grants to a number of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) who have a PFI project in their force area. The total amount of resource grant from financial year 2014/15 until 2034/35 is estimated to be £1.4 billion.

HM Passport Office

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what overtime costs were incurred by HM Passport Office in (a) July, (b) August and (c) September 2014.

James Brokenshire: Overtime costs incurred by HM Passport Office were as follows:July £2,065,021August £2,537,957September £2,148,872

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to the Answers to Questions 40890, on 15 February 2011 and 43770, on 8 March 2011, how many overseas students from each country were granted visas in 2013.

James Brokenshire: The available information relates to entry clearance visas granted in Tier 4 and pre-Points Based System (PBS) equivalents and is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics. The information is given in the table below.   Entry clearance visas granted by nationality: Study (Tier 4 and pre-PBS equivalent) (main applicants)   Country of nationality1China62,010   2United States13,853   3India12,690   4Nigeria10,753   5Hong Kong9,644   6Malaysia8,987   7Thailand4,863   8Saudi Arabia4,835   9Russia4,555   10Pakistan4,299Other nationalities63,119Total199,608  Source: Table vi_06_q, Visas Volume 3, "Immigration Statistics, April - June 2014".  Notes: The figures shown exclude dependants and student visitors. Other nationalities are  broken down further in the published table.The latest Home Office immigration statistics, including those for entry clearance visas for Tier 4 and pre-PBS equivalents for all individual nationalities, are published in the release Immigration Statistics April – June 2014, table vi_06_q_s (Visas Volume 3), which is available from the Library of the House and on the Department’s website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Slavery

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individual potential victims of trafficking the NSPCC Modern Slavery Helpline offered advice or information to during August 2014; and how many of those people were (a) adults and (b) children.

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many enquiries were made to the NSPCC Modern Slavery Helpline during August 2014; and how many of those calls were from (a) frontline professionals, (b) members of the public and (c) potential victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Karen Bradley: In August 2014, the Modern Slavery Helpline received 269 contacts in relation to 430 potential victims. Of the 269 contacts, 114 were from members of the public, one was from a child, one was from a relative and there were 21 contacts from potential victims. The remaining 132 were recorded as other.Of those 269 contacts, the individual was provided with advice or directed to a source of advice in 121 cases. The table below sets out the estimated age of the 430 potential victims reported to the helpline:Age range* Total1-15 - 2016-25 - 3126-35 - 3436-45 - 1346-55 - 1456-65 - 2Unknown - 316Total = 430*Age has been recorded only when a definite age number has been provided. Where the age range has been given for a large group of potential victims, it has been included in the ‘unknown’ category.

Domestic Violence

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what alternative support the Government has offered the Women's Aid SOS Campaign on countering domestic violence following funding reductions.

Norman Baker: We are supporting local commissioners to ensure they have all the information they need to make informed decisions about commissioning sexual violence and domestic violence services in their area by holding a series of regional commissioning events on tackling violence against women and girls.Local authorities have to make some tough spending decisions, but we made sure protecting vulnerable people, including victims of domestic and sexual violence, was a priority in the spending review. For the first time, the Government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of stable funding up to 2015 for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services, rape crisis centres, the national domestic violence helplines and stalking helpline. We will continue to work with the women’s sector to support this work on the commissioning of services.

Human Trafficking

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 13 January 2014 to Question 181067, how many identified victims of trafficking who (a) participated and (b) did not participate in criminal proceedings were granted discretionary leave to remain on the grounds of personal circumstances in 2013; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Torbay

Mr Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visits were made by Ministers of her Department to Torbay constituency in the 12 months to 14 October 2014; whom the invitation for each such visit was issued by; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such visit.

Karen Bradley: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Cybercrime

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of data-tagging as a tool for protecting against data breaches.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office continues to evaluate a variety of controls and measures for protecting against data breaches, implementing those which provide the right balance of risk mitigation and cost effectiveness.

Schengen Agreement: ICT

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether Chapter VIII of Council Decision 2007/533/JHA will place police and border control checks conducted by UK authorities within the scope of EU law for the purposes of EU fundamental rights, if the UK connects to the Schengen Information System II.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued to people living in the London Borough of Havering in each year since 2011.

Norman Baker: Information on numbers of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) issued, which is collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice and held on the Court Proceedings Database, does not include the constituency in which the ASBO recipient resides. This detailed information is only held by courts on individual case files and is not reported to the Ministry of Justice.It is therefore not possible to determine from centrally held information how many people in the London Borough of Havering have been issued with an ASBO.

Scotland Office

Sovereignty

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, further to the Answer of 25 June 2014, Official Report, column 208W, on sovereignty, whether the figure provided in the Answer includes the cost of any amendments, alterations or destruction of any printed material promoting the Government's policy on the Scottish independence referendum.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: The answer of 25 June 2014, Official Report, Column 208W, specified a total of £723,501 (plus VAT). This was fully inclusive of all costs incurred as part of the design, production and delivery process for What Staying in the United Kingdom Means for Scotland.

Sovereignty

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many leaflets produced by his Department promoting the Government's policy on the Scottish independence referendum have had to be amended, altered or destroyed; and at what cost to the public purse.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: The Scotland Office incurred no costs in amending, altering or destroying any leaflets promoting the Government’s policy on the Scottish independence referendum.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Public Records

Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what targets have been set for the release of his Department's material to the National Archives; what progress has been made in meeting those targets; and how many staff in his Department are engaged in reviewing records for that purpose.

Amber Rudd: Core DECC records are released to The National Archives in accordance with the Public Records Act 1958, and the review and transfer process has been rescheduled to reflect the reduction of the 30 year release period to 20 years. Review is undertaken by BIS as a shared service using 0.75 FTE.DECC also has responsibility for records created by the National Coal Board. Due to the size and complexity of this material, these records are now covered by a Lord Chancellor’s Instrument until 2023 and DECC has a rolling programme of review and transfer, agreed and monitored by The National Archives. Review is contacted out and undertaken by 1.5 FTEs, and is due for completion by 2023.

Climate Change

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information his Department holds on the extent of contributions to the UN Green Climate Fund made by other European countries to date; if he will make it his policy that the UK should undertake to contribute at least one billion US dollars to the UN Green Climate Fund in advance of the COP20 climate talks in Lima in December 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: We understand that 8 European countries have announced commitments totalling up to US $2.2 billion - including France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic and Luxemburg. We also welcome announcements from developing countries – South Korea and Mexico recently announced pledges of $100m and $10m respectively.We are currently finalising the details of a UK pledge. The UK recognises the importance of a successful initial resource mobilisation process, and is keen for the Fund to become fully operational as soon as possible. We aim to pledge before the Lima UNFCCC Conference of the Parties.

Renewable Energy

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much energy was generated from renewable sources in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Matthew Hancock: DECC does not hold information on how much energy was generated from renewable sources by nation. The table below shows how much electricity was generated, by nation, for each of the last ten years.  Renewable electricity generation by UK country (GWh) EnglandNorthern IrelandScotlandWales20047,1201535,8321,02920058,9632716,4861,19620069,3623506,9561,41120079,6905108,0031,469200810,4296069,0581,711200912,00881810,5821,761201013,8357619,4191,731201117,57399613,5392,330201222,9511,17914,5842,434201332,4171,53116,9672,664Source: DECC Regional Renewable Statistics, Generation, 2003-2013, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/regional-renewable-statisticsNote: Figures may not add up to the totals presented in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics for the UK as a whole, as a result of a small amount of generation from sites for which there are no location details.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2013 to Question 159990, how many Green Deal apprentices had (a) begun and (b) completed their training on 1 October 2014.

Amber Rudd: The Department made £3 million available in funding for the training of Green Deal Advisors and Installers. This was delegated to Asset Skills and Construction Skills respectively to allocate on our behalf. With support from the funding, 841 Green Deal Advisors and 750 installer operatives have completed their training. DECC has not run a scheme specifically to train apprentices.

Carbon Emissions

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government has taken to unify carbon mitigation strategies between (a) the public and private sectors and (b) different industrial sectors.

Amber Rudd: In 2011, the Government published the Carbon Plan describing how the UK will make the transition to a low carbon economy in the most cost effective way. The Plan sets out a unified strategy for reducing emissions across all sectors of the economy, including: buildings, transport, industry, power, agriculture and waste.The Government will set a new unified strategy in an updated Carbon Plan, which will be published after the Fifth Carbon Budget has been set in law, in 2016. The Government sets out on an annual basis its assessment of the progress made in each sector of the economy in response to the Committee on Climate Change’s annual progress report. The Government’s latest response was published on 15 October 2014.In addition, Government Departments, industry and academia are working collaboratively on the development of long-term decarbonisation and energy efficiency roadmaps for the eight most heat intensive sectors in the UK. These roadmaps will enable Government and industry to identify and set out opportunities for reducing emissions in industry while remaining competitive.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Procurement

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the proposed ban on contractors applying for government contracts if they have committed certain specified offences applies to offences committed in other legal jurisdictions.

Mr Francis Maude: The Public Contracts Regulations (2006) include a mandatory requirement for contracting authorities to exclude companies from public contracts where they have been convicted of certain criminal offences. The Regulations specify that this includes “any other offence within the meaning of Article 45(1) of the Public Sector Directive as defined by the national law of any relevant State”.

Pay

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) direct employees, (b) outsourced workers and (c) workers in agencies which report to his Department are paid less than the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Mr Francis Maude: No staff directly employed in the Cabinet Office or directly employed in its agencies are paid less than the living wage. Further to my answer of 28 January 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 515W to the hon. Member for Rhonda to Question , in line with the practice of previous Administrations, we do not require our contractors to pay the living wage to their staff.

Community Development: Barnsley

Michael Dugher: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Big Society community organisers living in Barnsley East constituency have been trained to date.

Mr Rob Wilson: Since 2010, Community Organisers have worked in over 400 neighbourhoods across England. Of the 551 Senior Community Organisers recruited and trained through the Community Organisers programme to date, 63 have worked in Yorkshire and the Humber. Organisers do not necessarily work where they live.

Performance Appraisal

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department of each (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) age received the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System's (i) exceeded, (ii) met and (iii) must improve performance mark in 2013-14.

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department completed the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System in 2013-14; how many and what proportion of those officials received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark; and how many and what proportion (i) did and (ii) did not qualify for a bonus under that process.

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in his Department who received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark under the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System (i) had a disability, (ii) worked full-time and (iii) worked part-time in 2013-14.

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in 10 Downing Street of what (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) age received the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System's (i) exceeded, (ii) met and (iii) must improve performance mark in 2013-14.

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in 10 Downing Street completed the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System in 2013-14; how many and what proportion of those officials received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark; and how many and what proportion (i) did and (ii) did not qualify for a bonus under that process.

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials in 10 Downing Street who received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark under the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System (i) had a disability, (ii) worked full-time and (iii) worked part-time in 2013-14.

Mr Francis Maude: The Prime Minister’s Office and the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office are integral parts of the Cabinet Office.The Cabinet Office has implemented the Civil Service Employee Policy performance management system in common with nearly all other departments.   This performance management covers staff at Bands A-C.The number of Civil Servants in the Cabinet Office who completed the performance management system in 2013-14, including analysis by working pattern; gender and age at June 2014, are as follows:- Table 1 – Overall Distribution ExceededMetMust ImproveGrand Total%No.%No.%No.No.Overall Distribution22.73%41166.98%121110.28%1861808   Those in the exceeded rating qualified for a non-consolidated performance payment. Table 2 – Distribution by gender GenderExceededMetMust Improve No.No. No.Female 224617 91Male 187594 95Grand Total 4111211 186  Table 3 – Distribution by working pattern Part-time/Full-timeExceededMetMust Improve No.No.No.Full-time3941099171Part-time159115NULL≤5210Grand Total4111211186  Table 4 – Distribution by Age  Age BandExceededMetMust Improve No.No.No.Under 21 16≤521-25471031426-30882281831-35972162536-40551543441-45451462246-50301492851-55241132256-6022601061-65 177Over 65≤57≤5N/A≤5≤5≤5Grand Total4111211186

Charities

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to which category of description of purpose, as defined in the Charities Act 2006, charities belong who were (a) investigated and (b) engaged in regulatory cases, including any such investigations and engagements that were not made public, by the Charities Commission in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, where the results are published of Charity Commission (a) investigations and (b) engagement with charities on regulatory issues on which the Commission has previously made a public statement.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission's chief executive to reply. 



Charity Commission Letter to Member - Charities
(PDF Document, 131.01 KB)

Mortality Rates

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what average of mortality rates is due to (a) cardiovascular disease, (b) respiratory disease, (c) lung cancer and (d) breast cancer in (i) England and (ii) Liverpool.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Mortality Rates
(PDF Document, 131.6 KB)

Childbirth

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of births where one or both parents were born outside the UK there were in (a) London and (b) Greater London in 2013.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Births
(PDF Document, 142.41 KB)

Shared Services Connected

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 253W, on Shared Services Connected Limited, if he will publish the impact assessment for the Shared Services Connected Limited venture when it is complete.

Mr Francis Maude: Further to my answer of 8 July 2014 to Question UIN203200 we will continue to work with staff, trade unions and other stakeholders to assess any impacts.

Department for Education

Children: Abuse

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what research her Department has commissioned on potential links between child abuse and maltreatment and increased mental health problems amongst children in the last five years.

Mr Edward Timpson: In 2012 the Department for Education published ‘Safeguarding Children across Services: Messages from Research’ by Ward and Davies. This report pulls together a wide-ranging body of existing research on safeguarding children from abuse and neglect and provides a valuable summary of the impact of neglect on children, including their mental health.[1]In 2013 the Department published a new analysis of the association between stressful life events and adolescent outcomes, drawing on two existing longitudinal studies; the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).[2] More recently, we published an up-to-date review by Ward et al on the impact of maltreatment on child development, including social, emotional and behavioural development.[3]Earlier this year the Department published a study focusing specifically on adopted children and their well-being post-adoption.[4] We are currently finalising a similar report focusing specifically on children cared for by Special Guardians; this is due to be published later in the year.The Department has commissioned a follow-up for one of the studies originally funded by the Safeguarding Research Initiative: the ‘Significant Harm of Infants study’. This study was set up to explore how decisions made by practitioners have influenced the life pathways of 57 young children who were identified as suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm before their first birthdays. The new study is due to be published in 2015.[1]www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183231/DFE-RR164.pdf[2]www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-stressors-and-childrens-outcomes[3] www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/200471/Decision-making_within_a_child_s_timeframe.pdf   [4] www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301889/Final_Report_-_3rd_April_2014v2.pdf

Foster Care

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities in England spend more than £60,000 annually per child in total foster care costs.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities in England spend less than £40,000 annually per child in total foster care costs.

Mr Edward Timpson: 136 local authorities spent less than £40,000 per child in total foster care services in 2012-13, and no authorities spent more than £60,000. This is based on total outturn expenditure on fostering services during the year ending 31 March 2013, divided by the total number of children looked after in a foster placement at 31 March 2013.Information on the outturn weekly unit costs of fostering for each local authority is published on the Department’s local authority interactive tool.[1][1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-interactive-tool-lait

Children: Protection

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the recommendations in Chapter 5 of the European Report on Preventing Child Maltreatment recently published by the World Heath Organisation; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Edward Timpson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gaveon 14 October 2014 to Question 209349.

Human Trafficking: Children

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what work her Department undertakes in partnership with the Home Department to tackle cases of British children being trafficked for sex and labour across borders; and if she will make a statement.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of British children confirmed as having been trafficked for sex and labour outside the UK in each year since 2010.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education works closely with the Home Office and other Departments on a range of policies and practices to promote children’s safeguarding and protection. This includes cross-Government work to tackle trafficking and modern slavery, where the Department’s main focus is on prevention and support for victims. Effective safeguarding from all forms of abuse depends upon good multi-agency working and the statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013)’ [1], sets out the roles and responsibilities of the relevant local services, while ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education (2014)'[2] provides corresponding statutory guidance for schools, colleges and their staff.In July 2014 we issued revised guidance, ‘Care of unaccompanied and trafficked children’, which sets out the steps local authorities should take to plan support for children who become looked after as a result of being identified as victims of trafficking.[3] The Department does not hold information on the number of British children trafficked outside the UK. The National Crime Agency holds information on the number of children reported to the National Referral System, which includes those trafficked within the UK.[4] [1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children[2] www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education[3]www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330787/Careofunaccompaniedandtrafficked_children.pdf [4]www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/139-national-referral-mechanism-statistics-2013/file

Educational Psychology

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2014 to Question 207388, if she will make it her policy to collect information on waiting times for students referred to educational psychologists.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education recognises the importance of educational psychology services in helping to identify and secure high quality support for children and young people with special educational needs. The Department has specified a timescale of 20 weeks for completion of assessments for Education, Health and Care plans under the arrangements introduced through the Children and Families Act 2014.Data on meeting these timescales will be collected and published.

Children in Care

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many cases in the family courts resulted in removed children being returned to their parents in each of the last five years.

Mr Edward Timpson: The table below shows, for each of the last five years:The number of children taken into care.The number of children who are subsequently ceased to be looked after and returned home to live with parents or relatives,The number of children who have not returned home to live with parents or relatives but were subsequently placed with parents whilst still looked after.Year ending Number of children taken into care[1],[2]Of which:Have subsequently ceased to be looked after to return home to live with parents or relatives2,[3]Have subsequently been placed with parents and have either remained in care or have since ceased to be looked after for some other reason than returning home to live with parents or relatives2,[4]31 March 20109,5802,9601,47031 March 20119,5602,8601,50031 March 201210,1402,7501,34031 March 201311,1402,6801,38031 March 201410,9202,1201,070Source: SSDA903 children looked after return 2014[1] Children who were taken into care are children who started to be looked after under a care order, police protection, emergency protection order or child assessment order. Only the first occasion on which a child was taken into care in the year has been counted, but a child may appear more than once if they started to be looked after in one year, left care and then returned to care in a subsequent year.[2] Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.[3] The child may have ceased to be looked after at any subsequent point in time and it is possible the child could have returned to care since ceasing to be looked after. This includes children who, prior to ceasing care, were placed with parents at some point during their period of care.[4] The child was placed with parents at some point during the period of care, however, the child may have changed placements subsequently. This excludes children who ceased to be looked after to return home to live with parents or relatives.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teaching schools bid for funds from the early years self-improvement fund; how many of each type of teaching school applied; how much was available in that fund; what the average award was from that fund; and if she will publish a list of all applicants for that fund and their location.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The deadline for expressions of interest was 6 October and 144 bids were received. The Department for Education is assessing the bids and up to £5 million is available. The Department will consider publishing information on successful bids when grants are awarded by the end of January 2015. We will be able to provide the additional information requested at this point.

Young People: Impact Assessments

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to implement a young person impact assessment for future policy proposals and funding changes.

Mr Edward Timpson: In 2010 the Government gave a commitment to Parliament that it would give due consideration to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when developing new policies and programmes. The Department for Education has undertaken child rights impact assessments in respect of the legislative proposals leading to the Education Act 2011 and the Children and Families Act 2014. We will continue to put this commitment into practice. Through the Children and Families Act 2014, the Department also introduced a new power for the Office of the Children’s Commissioner to consider the potential effect of government policy proposals and government proposals for legislation on the rights of children. In addition, the new Family Test, announced by the Prime Minister on 18 August 2014, will also mean that every new domestic policy will be examined in terms of its impact on families.

IGCSE

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consultation was carried out with serving teachers before the decision to remove iGCSEs from school league tables was taken.

Mr Nick Gibb: We are consulting widely, including with serving teachers, on the development of reformed GCSEs. The decision that iGCSEs will not be included in performance tables, following the first awarding of reformed GCSEs in 2017, was taken following advice from Ofqual.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that personal, social, health and economic matters are taught in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Gibb: All schools should teach Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, and this expectation is set out in the introduction to the new national curriculum.   The Department for Education trusts schools and teachers to provide a high-quality PSHE education. We also encourage the use of resources produced by experts, such as the PSHE Association, to inform their teaching.The Department has recently extended grant funding to the PSHE Association into 2014-15, so that the Association can continue to provide schools with thematic briefings on important topics in PSHE education, and promote good PSHE teaching.

Schools: Nuneaton

Mr Marcus Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which primary schools and academies in Nuneaton constituency with a 10 per cent proportion of pupils on free school meals receive the PE and sport premium.

Mr Marcus Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which primary schools and academies in Nuneaton constituency have received the PE and sport premium to date; and how much each such school and academy has been awarded under that premium.

Mr Marcus Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of primary schools and academies in Nuneaton constituency have received the PE and sport premium to date.

Mr Edward Timpson: Physical Education & Sport premium allocations eligibility for academic year 2013/14 was given to all primary schools and academies with pupils in year groups 1 to 6, as well as those aged 5 in reception and aged 5-10 not following the year groups. Allocations for academic year 2013/14, including schools and academies in Nuneaton constituency, can be found online at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/pe-and-sport-grant-2013-to-2014-allocation-breakdownAllocations for academic year 2014 to 2015 will be announced shortly.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Broadband

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much has been spent on advertising or advertising agencies for the Super Connected Cities project; and whether that spending is in addition to or separate from the £150 million project budget.

Mr Edward Vaizey: We are advertising the Broadband Connection Voucher scheme in order to ensure as many small and medium sized businesses as possible can benefit from up to £3k to help with the costs of getting superfast broadband. To the end of September we have spent £234k on advertising. This spending is part of the £150million project budget.

Broadband

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many junction boxes (a) have been and (b) will be installed under BT's Broadband Delivery UK rollout programme.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of junction boxes that will need to be installed for superfast broadband to be rolled out to 95 per cent of premises.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government’s target for superfast broadband for 95% of UK premises by 2017. It is for suppliers to determine the optimal design of their network to deliver the target. The number of structures (cabinets) built is commercially sensitive information under the terms of the contracts and therefore not available for publication.

Direct Selling

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to reform the Telephone Preference Service; and what plans his Department has to give better protection and more choice to people who receive nuisance telephone calls.

Mr Edward Vaizey: There are no plans to reform the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) itself, as research published by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) on 23 July 2014 has shown that TPS registration reduces unsolicited marketing calls by a third. Whilst also having the wider benefit of reducing all types of nuisance calls by an average of a third. Legislative and non-legislative measures were outlined in our Nuisance Calls Action Plan of 30 March: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled . The plan includes Ofcom and the communications providers’ progress in enabling calls to be traced, where the calling number is withheld or deliberately disguised, as it is currently difficult for ICO and Ofcom to take action where the calling number is unknown. Consent and lead generation issues are also being considered by the Taskforce led by Which?, as consent can be unwittingly given to companies, resulting in calls to TPS registered consumers. We look forward to receiving the results from this Taskforce by the end of the year. We have additionally ensured that Ofcom can now share information with ICO with greater ease, about the conduct of companies who may be breaching the TPS by making unsolicited marketing calls. We are also soon to consult to lower the legal threshold. This will make it easier for ICO to take enforcement action for a breach of the regulations, including the need to ensure compliance with the TPS.

Direct Selling

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to increase the size of fines the Information Commissioner's Office can give to companies and individuals who do not comply with nuisance call legislation.

Mr Edward Vaizey: There are no current plans to increase the civil monetary penalty (CMP) of £500,000, introduced by us in May 2011, which the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can issue for a breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations 2003 (PECR). The focus of the Department is on ensuring that the existing regulations are more effectively enforced by ICO for unsolicited nuisance marketing calls, rather than increasing ICO’s CMP powers.

Tourism: Devon

Sir Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to support the tourist industry in North Devon.

Mrs Helen Grant: Both VisitBritain and VisitEngland actively promote North Devon as part of their marketing campaigns. The forthcoming £3 million ‘Countryside is GREAT’ campaign is due to be launched in 2015 and will feature UK national parks, including Exmoor. North Devon has also benefited from a number of VisitEngland’s recent Growing Tourism Locally Programme thematic marketing campaigns, funded through the Regional Growth Fund, and including Outdoor Activities and the English Seaside Campaigns.

Department of Health

Social Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has received any evidence on the effect of non-payment of the national minimum wage in the social care sector on care standards.

Norman Lamb: There are a number of factors that determine the quality of care provided in the social care sector including the way staff are treated. Pay is not the most significant factor in delivering high quality services.   The Department is clear however that care providers must abide by the law with regards to payment of the national minimum wage and is taking steps to ensure this happens. The Department is liaising with the Department for Business Innovartion and Skills to name and shame any social care providers who do not comply with the national minimum wage legislation and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is continuing to carry out enforcement action in the social care sector and will investigate all complaints made by care workers that their employer is not paying them the national minimum wage. In addition, it is looking to ensure that the statutory guidance that will accompany the Care Act on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels are appropriate to provide the agreed care packages with agreed quality of care.

Malnutrition: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital admissions there were for malnutrition in (a) Preston and (b) other local authority areas in Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Cheshire in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of malnutrition by clinical commissioning group (CCG) of treatment for the Preston and Cumbria areas, and by NHS England Area Team of treatment for the Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and Cheshire areas, for the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13.2010-20112011-20122012-2013NHS Greater Preston CCG7**NHS Cumbria CCG***Cheshire, Warrington and Wirral Area Team81613Greater Manchester Area Team387263Lancashire Area Team ‡191112   ‡ Lancashire Area Team includes Preston CCG within its geographical boundary. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre   Notes: To protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk).A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.ICD-10 codes used to identify admissions due to malnutrition: E40.X - Kwashiorkor E41.X - Nutritional marasmus E42.X - Marasmic kwashiorkor E43.X - Unspecified severe protein-energy malnutrition E44.0 - Moderate protein-energy malnutrition E44.1 - Mild protein-energy malnutrition E45.X - Retarded development following protein-energy malnutrition E46.X - Unspecified protein-energy malnutrition O25.X - Malnutrition in pregnancy

Ambulance Services: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings his Department has had with North West Ambulance service since June 2010; and in how many such meetings (a) lack of ambulance cover, (b) ambulance waiting times and (c) use of Chloe Care and other private operators were discussed.

Jane Ellison: There have been no meetings between the Department or its Ministers and the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust since June 2010.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Mr David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many research licences were (a) granted and (b) refused by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is set out in the following table.   YearNumber of research licences grantedNumber of research licences refused2004213200523020062602007902008170200914020101312011602012160201340201490Total1584

Human-Animal Hybrid Embryos

Mr David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many treatments have resulted from research conducted upon animal-human admixed embryos in each year since 2009.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected by the Department. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority does not collect this information as it is not part of its statutory duties.   It should be noted that animal-human admixed embryos are not permitted for direct use in treatment.

Care Homes: Conditions of Employment

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of workers in the care sector on zero hours contracts in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion of such workers were women.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not collect this information centrally.   Skills for Care, the social care sector skills council partner for England, has provided the following estimate for adult social care workers:YearEstimated number of zero-hours contracts jobsEstimated percentage of all jobs that are zero-hours contracts jobs2012/13310,00020%2011/12270,00018%2010/11250,00017% Source: Skills for Care workforce estimates 2011 to 2013, NMDS-SC October 2014   GenderEstimated number of zero-hours contracts jobsEstimated proportion of zero-hours contracts jobsMale40,00013%Female270,00087% Source: Skills for Care workforce estimates 2011 to 2013, NMDS-SC October 2014   The proportion of workers who are women has not changed substantially from 2010/11 to 2012/13.   This information is based on sample data provided to Skills for Care.

Mental Health Services: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young poeple have been referred to specialist paediatric psychiatric services in Harlow in each of the last 10 years.

Norman Lamb: Information about the number of young people who have been referred to specialist paediatric psychiatric services in Harlow in each of the last 10 years is not collected centrally.   Since April 2013, specialist paediatric psychiatric services are commissioned directly by NHS England, according to national specifications. Data related to provision of these services nationally was published in July 2014 by NHS England in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Tier 4 Report. The Report has already been placed in the Library and is available online at:   www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/camhs-tier-4-rep.pdf

Dementia

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve awareness of dementia among (a) NHS staff, (b) GPs and (c) the public.

Norman Lamb: All NHS staff looking after people with dementia will go through a dementia awareness programme. Health Education England will provide Tier 1 training to an additional 250,000 staff by March 2015, and will ensure that the tools and training opportunities are available to all staff by the end of 2018.   We have put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service which has had over 80% take up by general practitioners to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia.   In May 2014 Public Health England in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society launched the Dementia Friends Campaign, a major social movement to improve dementia awareness. The campaign aims to improve understanding of dementia, and the little things that people can do to help people with dementia live well for longer, by asking people to sign up to become a Dementia Friend. A second burst of campaign activity including TV and online advertising is planned for December. Currently over 400,000 members of the public, employees of commercial partners and public sector staff, including the NHS, have signed up to become Dementia Friends.

Palliative Care

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Palliative Care Funding Review, published on 1 July 2011.

Norman Lamb: In response to the recommendations of the independent Palliative Care Funding Review, we set up eight pilots to collect a range of data on palliative care and to test the review’s recommendations. The pilot phase was completed in March this year. NHS England is in the process of analysing the data and designing a new palliative care currency framework. Decisions on how best to develop a fair and transparent funding system for palliative care will be based on this evidence.

Dementia

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve (a) the diagnosis of dementia and (b) treatment for people with dementia.

Norman Lamb: This government has set the first ever national ambition on dementia diagnosis that two thirds of the estimated number of people with dementia should receive a diagnosis and appropriate post-diagnosis support by March 2015 so that they can access the right care at the right time.   We have put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service which has had over 80% take up by general practitioners to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia.   In October 2012, we made available £50 million capital funding for 2013-14 for the NHS and local authorities to work with providers to create better care environments to help people with dementia live well with the condition.   In the hospital setting, through the Dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) reward (introduced from April 2012), with around 4,000 referrals a month, it is clear that more people with dementia in hospitals are being identified and assessed. Between April 2013 and June 2014 there have been 59,961 referrals as a result of the introduction of this CQUIN goal.

Mental Health Services: Birmingham

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is for people with mental health problems in Birmingham to access talking therapies after being referred by a doctor.

Norman Lamb: This Government is committed to ensuring mental health is treated equally with physical health and is increasing access to mental health services through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme and talking therapies. The number of all referrals and general practitioner referrals in Birmingham for 2013/14 to IAPT services and the median waiting time for these are shown in the following table: Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre   Organisation nameNumber of all referrals entering treatmentMedian waiting time (days) for all referralsNumber of GP referrals entering treatmentMedian waiting time (days) for GP referralsNHS Birmingham South and Central CCG3,3182689035NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG5,135253,03428NHS Birmingham Cross City CCG9,021293,07744 Note: It is generally advised that the median is used as the most reliable measure of average waiting time, as this accounts for any outliers in the data.

Medical Treatments

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is taking to ensure that patients have access to drugs and treatments for ultra-rare diseases.

George Freeman: The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases, published in November 2013, aims to ensure that patients with rare diseases have access to high quality care, including diagnostics, treatments, support and effective drug treatments.   NHS England is responsible for directly commissioning specialised services accessed by comparatively small numbers of patients and has developed service specifications on a national basis, to ensure that patients can access the same high quality services and treatments regardless of where they live in England.   From 1 April 2013 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) took responsibility for the evaluation of selected high cost, low volume drugs under its Highly Specialised Technologies Programme. NHS commissioners are legally obliged to provide funding for drugs that have been recommended in NICE technology appraisals or highly specialised technologies evaluations.

Better Care Fund

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which clinical commissioning groups and local authorities did not submit a compliant application to the Better Care Fund by the deadline of 19 September 2014.

Norman Lamb: It is not currently possible to say in total how many of the Better Care Fund (BCF) plans that were submitted by 19 September are not “compliant” with the conditions of the Fund, as the plans are currently being assessed as part of the National Consistent Assurance Review. This process will be completed by the end of October.   One area did not submit by the 19 September deadline and submitted their plan during the following week. This area was Surrey.   One area did not submit a full BCF plan. This was Oxfordshire.   All other areas submitted full BCF plans by 19 September.

General Practitioners: Barnsley

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many complaints he received about waiting times to see a GP in the Barnsley East primary care trust area in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Dr Daniel Poulter: A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has not identified any complaints received between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2013 about waiting times to see a general practitioner in Barnsley. This reflects correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.

Performance Appraisal

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many officials in his Department who received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark under the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System (i) had a disability, (ii) worked full-time and (iii) worked part-time in 2013-14.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department implemented the Civil Service Performance Management Policy on 1 April 2013 for Administration Officer to Grade 6 staff. On 31 March the end of the first year of implementation was reached and data was collated and analysed on a range of diversity strands, including disability and full/part time workers.   (i) Breakdown by disability status Disability Status1 - Exceeded2 - Met3 – Improvement NeededGrand Total% Exceeded% Met% Improvement NeededDisabled109081089%83%7%Not disabled373103136144026%72%3%Unknown1796211515%83%2%Grand total400121746166324%73%3% (ii) Breakdown by full/part time workers Work pattern1 - Exceeded2 - Met3 – Improvement NeededGrand Total% Exceeded% Met% Improvement NeededFull time354102441141925%72%3%Part time46193524419%79%2%Grand total400121746166324%73%3%

Performance Appraisal

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many officials in his Department of each (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) age received the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System's (i) exceeded, (ii) met and (iii) must improve performance mark in 2013-14.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department implemented the Civil Service Performance Management Policy on 1 April 2013 for AO to Grade 6 staff. On 31 March the end of the first year of implementation was reached and data was collated and analysed on a range of diversity strands, including gender, ethnicity and age.   The following tables represent the data collected:   Breakdown by gender Gender1 - Exceeded2 – Met3 – Improvement NeededGrand total% Exceeded% Met% Improvement NeededFemale2457051996925%73%2%Male1555122769422%74%4%Grand total400121746166324%73%3%   Breakdown by ethnic group Ethnic Group1 - Exceeded2 – Met3 – Improvement NeededGrand total% Exceeded% Met% Improvement NeededBME472361529816%79%5%White33387229123427%71%2%Unspecified20109213115%83%2%Grand total400121746166324%73%3% Breakdown by age group   Age Group1 -Exceeded2 – Met3 – Improvement NeededGrand total% Exceeded% Met% Improvement Needed20-2950123317628%70%2%30-391282991143829%68%3%40-491323651351026%72%3%50-59813701646717%79%3%>=6096037213%83%4%Grand total400121746166324%73%3%

Performance Appraisal

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many officials in his Department completed the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System in 2013-14; how many and what proportion of those officials received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark; and how many and what proportion (i) did and (ii) did not qualify for a bonus under that process.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department implemented the Civil Service Performance Management Policy on 1 April 2013 for Administration Officer to Grade 6 staff. On 31 March the end of the first year of implementation was reached.   The overall distribution for the 2013-14 Performance Management year was:   Exceeded 440 (24%) Met 1271 (73%) Improvement needed 46 (3%) Total 1663   A non-consolidated performance related award was made to those in the “Exceeded” category.

Viral Diseases

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has worked closely with the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) to raise awareness of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). There is detailed information and advice for travellers on how to protect themselves from infection, and how to access medical care if they feel unwell on their return to the United Kingdom. This advice can be accessed via the NaTHNaC and PHE websites.   Additionally PHE has developed posters providing travel advice to raise awareness of MERS-CoV and provide advice on how to reduce the risk of infection. These posters are available on the PHE website and have also been distributed through PHE social network platforms, and shared with airports and air carriers. There is also specific advice provided for people attending the Hajj.   PHE has worked with national, local and ethnic media to raise awareness of MERS-CoV with press releases, social media activity, and provision of expert spokespeople. This has been both proactive, emphasising travel advice for travellers to the Middle East, and also reactive – providing information and clarification about public safety following imported cases of MERS-CoV in the UK.

Public Records

Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what targets have been set for the release of his Department's material to the National Archives; what progress has been made in meeting those targets; and how many staff in his Department are engaged in reviewing records for that purpose.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department has two full-time reviewers, supported by a team leader. The Department is recruiting two additional full-time staff as sensitivity reviewers to support the transfer of records to The National Archives.   Departmental progress is reported to The National Archives on a bi-annual basis and is available on their website at:   http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/record-transfer-report.htm

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that the haematology department at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is retained and that vacancies at that trust are filled; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: This is a matter for the National Health Service locally.   We have written to Paul Garvin, Chair of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of the hon. Member’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Haematology

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of haematology specialists working in (a) England and (b) the North East; and how that number has changed since 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The most recent National Health Service annual workforce census was published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) in March 2014 and shows that in September 2013 there were 1,507 doctors with a specialty of haematology working in England; this represents a 13% increase since September 2010.   The number of full-time equivalent doctors with a specialty of haematology working in the NHS in England and the North East as at 30 September in 2010 and 2013 is shown in the attached table.   The next NHS annual workforce census reflecting the position as at 30 September 2014 will be published by the HSCIC in March 2015.

Haematology

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of vacant and unfilled posts for haematology specialists working in (a) England and (b) the North East.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The number of vacant and unfilled posts for haematology specialists working in England and the North East is not collected by the Department.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will change the entitlement to NHS services to include people who normally reside outside the UK but have paid at least seven years' worth of national insurance contributions.

Jane Ellison: The Government has not yet taken a decision on which former United Kingdom residents should in the future be exempt from National Health Service charges when visiting the UK. We are currently undertaking further analysis and financial appraisal, as well as considering how any change to the current rules could be administered by the NHS. Any decision to amend the current rules of entitlement for visitors to the UK will be made and announced in due course.

Dementia: Barnsley

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in Barnsley have been diagnosed with dementia in each of the last 10 years.

Norman Lamb: Information is not available for the format requested. The number of people on the dementia register is available. This is a measure of prevalence rather than incidence. The number of people recorded on practice disease registers is taken from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Dementia was included on the QOF register in 2006-07, and the following table shows all available data for the Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Primary Care Trust (PCT).   Number of patients on the QOF dementia register for Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group/Primary Care TrustPracticesList sizeDementia register countsBarnsley CCG   2013-14 1137252,4451,7962012-1338250,3761,363Barnsley PCT   2011-1240245,3171,2392010-1146245,4201,1142009-1046244,0441,0202008-0942242,7791,0442007-0843241,5771,0012006-0743240,334894   [1] Information for 2013-14 is based only on those practices that participated in QOF in both 2012-13 and 2013-14. Therefore, 2013-14 figures are provisional and are subject to change once the full QOF is published 28 October 2014.

Diseases

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to promote and partake in Rare Disease Day 2015.

Jane Ellison: Rare Disease Day is an international event which is coordinated in England by Rare Disease UK. The Department has supported these events in the past and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Quality has accepted an invitation to attend the next Rare Disease Day event on 5 March 2015 organised by Rare Disease UK and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Huntington's Disease

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what changes have been made to the level of support available for patients with Huntingdon's disease in the last year.

Norman Lamb: Whilst there have been no changes to the level of support so far, the Neurosciences Clinical Reference Group is about to consider a draft Neuropsychiatry service specification at its meeting next week which will, if implemented, be of relevance for patients with Huntington’s Disease.

Diseases

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the progress of the implementation of the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases.

Jane Ellison: The Department has established the UK Rare Disease Forum to monitor how the vision and commitments outlined in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases are being responded to across the United Kingdom. The Forum will formally report back to Ministers in the four UK countries by March 2016.

Motor Neurone Disease

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of assistive communications equipment for people with motor neurone disease; and what steps his Department has taken to improve such provision.

Norman Lamb: Since 1 April 2013 NHS England has been responsible for commissioning Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) aids for patients with complex disability whose needs require specialised assessment.   NHS England has identified an additional £22.5 million funding for AAC and Environmental Controls in 2014-15. They have been working closely with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) to ensure this funding is equitably distributed across England in a fair and consistent manner. The MNDA are representing all patients on the panel which is reviewing this funding allocation.   The service specification and management protocols for this service contain clear standards for providers to supply communication devices within an agreed timescale depending on the complexity. The specification can be found at:   www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-d/d01/

General Practitioners

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether GPs have an obligation to provide evidence letters for patients who are making a claim for disability benefits.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department gives guidance to GPs on what fee should be charged for providing evidence letters for patients who are making a claim for disability benefits.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Under the terms of their contract for the provision of NHS primary medical services, general practitioners (GPs) are required to provide certain prescribed medical reports, such as those required to prove incapacity to work, free of charge to their registered patients.   Outside of this, it is at the discretion of the individual GP to decide whether he or she charges for this service and, if so, how much.   The Department does not issue guidance on fees for letters. The Professional Fees Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA) suggests fees for such services to help doctors set their own professional fees. However, these fees are guidelines only, and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates suggested. Where doctors intend to charge for services to patients, the BMA advises them to forewarn patients, at the earliest opportunity, of the likely level of fees.

Medical Records: Databases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have opted out of the care.data programme.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The objection applies to the use of general practitioner (GP) data for purposes beyond direct care, not just to the care.data programme.   There are currently no estimates relating to opt out rates as no extractions have taken place. The Health and Social Care Information Centre will record the number of patient objections made at each GP practice once extractions begin.

Medical Records: Databases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage the sharing of patient-related information by NHS organisations.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Government approached Dame Fiona Caldicott to lead an independent review to see how best to balance the need to keep patient information secure with the need to share it among health and care professionals for legitimate reasons and to monitor progress against her recommendations. The review’s report, “Information: to share or not to share” and the Government’s response document are available on line.   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-information-governance-review   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/caldicott-information-governance-review-department-of-health-response

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average salary is of (a) Chief Clinical Officers, (b) Chief Finance Officers and (c) Directors of Nursing of Clinical Commissioning Groups.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish guidance on the remuneration of the (a) Chief Clinical Officer, (b) Chief Finance Officer and (c) Director of Nursing of Clinical Commissioning Groups.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, under what mechanism (a) the remuneration of and (b) accountability arrangements of the remuneration of the (i) Chief Clinical Officer, (ii) Chief Finance Officer and (iii) Director of Nursing of Clinical Commissioning Groups is set.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has approved the salaries of the (a) Chief Clinical Officers, (b) Chief Finance Officers and (c) Directors of Nursing of Clinical Commissioning Groups.

Jane Ellison: Information on the average salary for Chief Clinical Officers, Chief Finance Officers and Directors of Nursing of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) is not held centrally.   NHS England has published guidance for CCGs entitled “Remuneration guidance for Chief Officers (where the senior manager also undertakes the accountable officer role) and Chief Finance Officers.” There is also a related document “Clinical Commissioning Groups HR Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Additional questions June 2012” which provides further guidance on remuneration of CCG Officers. Copies are attached.   The setting of salaries for CCG officers is a matter for CCGs. As Such, the Secretary of State does not approve the salaries of CCG Officers. Each CCG is required to have a governing body and a remuneration committee. The remuneration committee will make recommendations to the governing body regarding determining the remuneration, fees and allowances paid to employees of the CCG. 



Renumeration Guidance for Chief Officers
(PDF Document, 293.68 KB)




FAQs for CCGs HR
(PDF Document, 297.03 KB)

Medical Records: Databases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the NHS of increasing the extent to which patient-level data is shared between organisations; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Effective sharing of patient information between organisations as part of a person’s direct care has enormous potential to improve patient care, services and treatments and can only be done effectively if patients are given a say over how their personal information is used.   The sharing of patient information, whilst protecting confidentiality, ensures the highest standards of care and clinical safety are consistently met throughout the National Health Service and where standards drop, allowing prompt action to be taken. It also helps to understand what happens to people, especially those with long term conditions, who are cared for away from hospital, and to ensure their needs are met and provides vital information needed to assist and support research into new medicines, and the better treatment of disease.

George Freeman: Effective sharing of patient information between organisations as part of a person’s direct care has enormous potential to improve patient care, services and treatments and can only be done effectively if patients are given a say over how their personal information is used.   The sharing of patient information, whilst protecting confidentiality, ensures the highest standards of care and clinical safety are consistently met throughout the National Health Service and where standards drop, allowing prompt action to be taken. It also helps to understand what happens to people, especially those with long term conditions, who are cared for away from hospital, and to ensure their needs are met and provides vital information needed to assist and support research into new medicines, and the better treatment of disease.

Medical Records: Databases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent progress has been made on the care.data project; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England made an announcement on the progress of the care.data project on October 7.   Further details can be found at:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/2014/10/07/ccgs-care-data-programme/

George Freeman: NHS England made an announcement on the progress of the care.data project on October 7.   Further details can be found at:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/2014/10/07/ccgs-care-data-programme/

Medical Records: Databases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish a list of all datasets containing (a) patient-identifiable and (b) pseudonymised information held by (i) his Department, (ii) Public Health England, (iii) NHS England and (iv) the Health and Social Care Information Centre; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the Health and Social Care Information Centre has a statutory responsibility to maintain and publish a catalogue of all its data collections. This is currently delivered via a Collections catalogue produced through the work of the Burden Advice and Assessment Service which seeks to minimise the burden of data collections. The Collections catalogue is available online:   http://www.hscic.gov.uk/baas

Medical Records: Databases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) NHS organisations, (b) academic institutions, (c) private sector organisations and (d) non-academic charities which hold databases containing (i) patient-identifiable and (ii) pseudonymised data; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Any organisation wishing to receive identifiable or pseudonymised data from the Health and Social Care Information Service (HSCIC) requires a Data Sharing Agreement. This agreement outlines how the data can be handled, stored and used.   Since April 2014, the HSCIC has published quarterly registers detailing the instances where it has provided data under a data sharing agreement. The registers list each organisation, the type of data released, the legal basis for release and the purpose for which the data was provided. The quarterly registers can be found here:   http://www.hscic.gov.uk/dataregister   The HSCIC also published the Partridge Review, a review of data releases by its predecessor body, the NHS Information Centre, in June 2014. As part of this review a listing was released of recipients of data from April 2005 to March 2013. This release can be found here:   http://www.hscic.gov.uk/datareview   Data held by the HSCIC represents a small portion of patient identifiable data held by the wider system. For example, all providers of direct care will collect and hold patient identifiable or pseudonymised data in order to deliver their services. Academic institutions may also hold patient identifiable data that they have collected direct from patients with their consent. The HSCIC is not required to hold information about all instances of data sharing across the system and is therefore unable to comment.

Ophthalmic Services: Dyslexia

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support behavioural optometry services; and whether behavioural optometry is available through the NHS to support people with dyslexia.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Free National Health Service funded sight tests are available to eligible groups with the purpose of detecting signs of injury, disease or abnormality and giving an individual a written prescription for glasses or referring them to a doctor for further examination. Funding is also available under the NHS voucher scheme for the provision of spectacles with a prescription power to correct a defect of sight. Individuals with reading difficulties are encouraged to have their sight tested by an optometrist to check that there are no refractive problems or eye disease that may be contributing to their difficulties. Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local population. This could include services over and above the NHS sight test, such as behavioural optometry. As a learning difficulty, the responsibility for the policy on dyslexia rests with the Department for Education.

Prostate Cancer: Drugs

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to make a decision on whether to consider an application for a patient access scheme for the Zytiga brand of the prostate cancer drug abiraterone for use prior to chemotherapy; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: There is already a Patient Access Scheme in place for Zytiga (abiraterone). The potential introduction of a second scheme for a specific indication of the same drug requires careful consideration. In the meantime, patients are able to access Zytiga for the treatment of prostate cancer prior to chemotherapy through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Medical Records: Databases

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with which organisations the Health and Social Care Information Centre has shared data collected from NHS patients in the last 24 months; what data was shared in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Since April 2014, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has published quarterly registers detailing the instances where it has provided data under a data sharing agreement. The registers list each organisation, the type of data released, the legal basis for release and the purpose for which the data was provided. The register also lists the number of releases of non-clinical information provided in response to requests received for the purposes of law enforcement from the Police, Serious Organised Crime Agency and later the National Crime Agency which replaced it during 2013, the Home Office and the courts. The quarterly registers can be found here:   http://www.hscic.gov.uk/dataregister   The HSCIC also published the Partridge Review, a review of data releases by its predecessor body, the NHS Information Centre, in June 2014. As part of this review a listing was released of recipients of data from April 2005 to March 2013. This release can be found here:   http://www.hscic.gov.uk/datareview

Health Visitors

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what budget is being allocated to local authorities in the next five years to embed health visitor services in local areas.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what budget is being made available to assist local authorities with commissioning public health services for children under five from April 2015.

Dr Daniel Poulter: From 1 October 2015, the Government intends that local authorities take over responsibility from NHS England for commissioning of public health services for children aged 0-5. This includes health visiting services and Family Nurse Partnership targeted services for teenage mothers. Local authorities will receive funding for these new responsibilities.   The Department is aiming to set out 0-5 funding allocations later in the year. Work is on-going to determine how much money will transfer and commissioning costs will be considered as part of the overall approach. Funding in future years will be calculated in the light of the Government’s next spending review.   Locally NHS England’s area teams and local authorities are working to develop plans, including timescales, for a smooth and effective transfer of the commissioning role. A programme of regional 0 to 5 years commissioning transfer events is underway, involving key stakeholders to enhance understanding of future working arrangements.

Mental Health Services

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time for talking therapies for patients with a mental health problem was in (i) each clinical commissioning group area in 2013-14 and (ii) each primary care trust area in (A) 2009-10 and (B) 2012-13.

Norman Lamb: Information on mean and median waiting times for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) programme by clinical commissioning group in 2013-14 is attached.   The IAPT dataset did not exist before April 2012 and reliable data became available from April 2013 onwards.   Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 sets out action the Government is taking to provide better access to mental health services within the next year, including a national waiting time for talking therapies. It also sets out its vision for further progress by 2020.   £40 million in additional funding has been identified to enable change in the current financial year, and a further £80 million will be freed up for 2015-16 to support implementation of waiting times in mental health services. 



IAPT Waiting Times per CCG 2013-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 28.82 KB)

Viral Haemorrhagic Disease

Robert Jenrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency planning his Department is carrying out to prepare for cases of Ebola disease within the UK.

Jane Ellison: The Secretary of State laid out the steps the Government is taking to prepare for cases of Ebola in the United Kingdom in his statement of 13 October 2014, Official Report, columns 28-46.

Skin: Diseases

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England have been diagnosed with chronic spontaneous urticaria in each year since 2010.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have chronic spontaneous urticaria in England.

Norman Lamb: Information concerning the number of people with chronic spontaneous urticaria (also known as hives, welts or nettle rash) in England is not collected. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that approximately 15% of people in the United Kingdom experience urticaria at some time in their lives and the lifetime prevalence of chronic urticaria is 0.5–1%.

NHS: Procurement

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each NHS trust and foundation trust has spent on advice and litigation relating to the tendering and allocation of contracts for NHS services in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not hold the information requested. Foundation trusts and NHS trusts include information on litigation costs as part of their annually published accounts, but a breakdown into types of litigation cost is not available.   When contracting for services, we would expect NHS trusts, foundation trusts and commissioners to act in a way which is transparent, fair and proportionate, and which secures the best services for their patients.

Dental Services: East of England

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what area in the East of England is covered by each NHS dentistry contract commissioned between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; what the start and finish dates are of each contract area in the East of England; what the value of each such contract is; and how many units of dental activity were (a) contracted to be completed and (b) completed under each contract between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014.

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS dentistry contracts in place in the East of England between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; and what the (a) name and (b) location was of each provider.

Dr Daniel Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 3 September 2014, Official Report, column 238W. The table placed in the Library with that answer includes information from the NHS England area teams that cover the former East of England Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area: Essex, East Anglia and Hertfordshire and the South Midlands. Note, however, that Hertfordshire and the South Midlands area team covers Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, which are outside the East of England SHA area.

Health Services

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in the number of people requiring healthcare (a) at home and (b) in the community between May 2010 and May 2014.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Data on the number of people requiring healthcare at home and in the community is not held centrally.

Nurses

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what records have been kept by his Department indicating the number of (a) district nurses and (b) qualified nurses, excluding health visitors, working in community service at NHS organisations in England and Wales since May 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre publishes provisional monthly National Health Service hospital and community health service (HCHS) workforce statistics of directly employed staff in NHS trusts and social care trusts in England.   Since May 2010 the overall number of nurses has increased by 3,379 (1.1%). As part of the Government's response to the Francis Inquiry, many of these increased nurses have been in hospital settings. However, the Government's longer term ambition is to train increasing numbers with the skills to work across all clinical settings. The Mandate to Health Education England recognises the need for a greater emphasis on community, primary and multi-integrated health and care, requiring working in multidisciplinary teams to break down barriers between primary and secondary care.   The following table shows the numbers of qualified nurses (excluding health visitors), district nurses and health visitors in the NHS in England since May 2010. It covers nurses and midwives working in community based services, determined by the area of work in which they perform the greatest share of their duties. It does not necessarily indicate the setting in which they work.Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, and qualified nursing and health visiting staff working in 'Community-based Services' in the following Areas of Work in England:Community ServicesCommunity PsychiatryCommunity Learning DisabilitiesSchool Nursing Full Time EquivalentMay 2010June 2014Change May 2010 - June 2014All qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors (including the health visitor minimum dataset)310,794314,1733,379 1.1% Community-based Services69,61166,969-2,643-3.8%of which:Community-based Services (excluding Health Visitors and District Nurses)53,70651,448-2,258-4.2% District Nurses7,8135,590-2,223-28.4% Health Visitors8,0929,9301,83822.7%Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Provisional Monthly Workforce Statistics June 2014The provision of health services in the United Kingdom is a devolved issue. The contact for Wales is available from the link below:   Wales: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/?lang=en

Nurses

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the number of (a) district nurses and (b) qualified nurses, excluding health visitors, working in community services at NHS organisations in England since May 2010; and what steps he is taking to increase such numbers.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The following table shows the numbers of qualified nurses (excluding health visitors), district nurses and health visitors in the NHS in England since May 2010. It covers nurses and midwives working in community based services, determined by the area of work in which they perform the greatest share of their duties. It does not necessarily indicate the setting in which they work.   Since May 2010 the overall number of nurses has increased by 3,379 (1.1%). As part of the Government's response to the Francis Inquiry, many of these increased nurses have been in hospital settings. However, the Government's longer term ambition is to train increasing numbers with the skills to work across all clinical settings. The Mandate to Health Education England recognises the need for a greater emphasis on community, primary and multi-integrated health and care, requiring working in multidisciplinary teams to break down barriers between primary and secondary care.   Health Education England is responsible for delivering a better health and healthcare workforce for England and for ensuring a secure future supply. This year Health Education England has increased the number of training places for district nurses by 7.2%.   Health Education England is also taking a number of other measures to increase the number of nurses working in the community. These include running a campaign to encourage registered nurses who have left to come back to work for the NHS, taking action to reduce attrition from training, encouraging more nurses to work in the community, and ensure that they have the most up to date knowledge and skills to provide high quality care for people with complex healthcare needs across all care settings.   NHS England has also commissioned the Queen’s Nursing Institution to develop a workforce planning tool to support local areas in making sure they have the right number of community nurses for their needs.  Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, and qualified nursing and health visiting staff working in 'Community-based Services' in the following Areas of Work in England:Community ServicesCommunity PsychiatryCommunity Learning DisabilitiesSchool Nursing Full Time EquivalentMay 2010June 2014Change May 2010 - June 2014All qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors (including the health visitor minimum dataset)310,794314,1733,379 1.1% Community-based Services69,61166,969-2,643-3.8%of which:Community-based Services (excluding Health Visitors and District Nurses)53,70651,448-2,258-4.2% District Nurses7,8135,590-2,223-28.4% Health Visitors8,0929,9301,83822.7%Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Provisional Monthly Workforce Statistics June 2014

Community Nurses

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will set national recruitment targets for NHS community and district nurses.

Dr Daniel Poulter: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 October 2014 to Question 208753

Pancreatic Cancer

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to address the low uptake of the pancreatic cancer e-learning module among GPs.

Jane Ellison: The e-learning module ‘Pancreatic Cancer: early diagnosis in general practice’ was developed and is promoted by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in partnership with the charity Pancreatic Cancer Action.   We understand that the module has had 3,550 users and that compared to other e-learning modules launched in 2012, this module is performing well. Since the launch of the module in October 2012, the RCGP has promoted the e-learning module through its usual communication channels including Chair of RCGP Council’s weekly message; membership and faculty newsletters; promotion on the RCGP website and; promotion via RCGP social media channels.  The module can be accessed from the RCGP website at   www.rcgp.org.uk/courses-and-events/online-learning/ole/pancreatic-cancer-early-diagnosis-in-general-practice.aspx.   Ministers also promote the availability of the module by reference to it in debates and correspondence.

Home Care Services

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that homecare workers are paid for time spent travelling between clients; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Department is clear that social care employers should pay homecare workers for their travel time between clients, in order for them to comply with National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation.   Care providers must abide by the law with regards to payment of the NMW and we are taking steps to ensure this happens. The Department is liaising with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to name and shame any social care providers who do not comply with the NMW legislation and HM Revenue and Customs is continuing to carry out enforcement action in the social care sector and will investigate all complaints made by care workers that their employer is not paying them the NMW. In addition, the Department is looking to ensure that the statutory guidance that will accompany the Care Act on commissioning and market shaping explicitly states local authorities should have evidence that contract terms, conditions and fee levels are appropriate to provide the agreed care packages with agreed quality of care.

Cancer: Liverpool

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase cancer screening rates in Liverpool; and how much he has spent on public health campaigns to increase cancer screening rates in Liverpool in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: Since early 2011 the Department of Health (Public Health England from 1 April 2013) has been running Be Clear on Cancer campaigns. These are designed to:   - raise the public’s awareness of specific cancer symptoms - encourage people with those symptoms to go to the doctor - catch cancer at an earlier stage, and therefore make it more treatable, and thereby improve cancer survival rates The NHS England Merseyside Area Team and Public health England have been working together to develop a cancer screening plan to improve breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening uptake rates in Merseyside and they are working closely with our partners including other clinical commissioning groups in the areas, local authorities and providers to name just a few.

Health

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the public health budget is in each core city in England.

Jane Ellison: This information is not available in the format requested. On 9 September 2014, the Department announced the public health allocation for 2015/16 to upper tier and unitary local authorities with details of the health premium incentive scheme. The total public health funding for 2015/16 will be £2.79 billion, the same as 2014/15 funding in cash terms. The table below shows the local authority allocation by regions for the year 2015/16.   Local authorities public health allocation for 2015/16 England (£' 000) RegionLocal Authority Name2015-16 Allocations£’000North East  Hartlepool8,486 Middlesbrough16,378 Redcar and Cleveland10,917 Stockton-on-Tees13,067 Darlington7,184 County Durham45,780 Northumberland13,408 Gateshead15,832 Newcastle upon Tyne21,302 North Tyneside10,807 South Tyneside12,917 Sunderland21,234North West  Halton8,749 Warrington10,440 Blackburn with Darwen13,134 Blackpool17,946 Cheshire East14,274 Cheshire West and Chester13,889 Bolton18,906 Bury9,619 Manchester44,116 Oldham14,915 Rochdale14,777 Salford18,777 Stockport12,834 Tameside12,600 Trafford10,456 Wigan23,665 Knowsley16,375 Liverpool41,437 St. Helens13,035 Sefton19,952 Wirral26,440 Cumbria15,594 Lancashire59,801Yorkshire & Humber  Kingston upon Hull, City of22,559 East Riding of Yorkshire9,175 North East Lincolnshire9,971 North Lincolnshire8,464 York7,305 Barnsley14,243 Doncaster20,198 Rotherham14,176 Sheffield30,748 Bradford34,699 Calderdale10,679 Kirklees23,527 Leeds40,540 Wakefield20,797 North Yorkshire19,733East Midlands  Derby14,484 Leicester21,995 Rutland1,073 Nottingham27,839 Derbyshire35,651 Leicestershire21,863 Lincolnshire28,506 Northamptonshire29,523 Nottinghamshire36,119West Midlands  Herefordshire, County of7,970 Telford and Wrekin10,913 Stoke-on-Trent20,242 Shropshire9,843 Birmingham80,838 Coventry19,615 Dudley18,974 Sandwell21,805 Solihull9,905 Walsall15,827 Wolverhampton19,296 Staffordshire33,313 Warwickshire21,810 Worcestershire26,528East of England  Peterborough9,291 Luton13,065 Southend-on-Sea8,060 ThurrockTBA Bedford7,343 Central Bedfordshire10,150 Cambridgeshire22,299 EssexTBA Hertfordshire37,642 Norfolk30,633 Suffolk26,289London  City of London1,698 Barking and Dagenham14,213 Barnet14,335 Bexley7,574 Brent18,848 Bromley12,954 Camden26,368 Croydon18,825 Ealing21,974 Enfield14,257 Greenwich19,061 Hackney29,818 Hammersmith and Fulham20,855 Haringey18,189 Harrow9,146 Havering9,717 Hillingdon15,709 Hounslow14,084 Islington25,429 Kensington and Chelsea21,214 Kingston upon Thames9,302 Lambeth26,437 Lewisham20,088 Merton9,236 Newham26,112 Redbridge11,411 Richmond upon Thames7,891 Southwark22,946 Sutton8,619 Tower Hamlets32,261 Waltham Forest12,277 Wandsworth25,431 Westminster31,235South East  Medway14,280 Bracknell Forest3,049 West Berkshire4,819 Reading8,212 Slough5,487 Windsor and Maidenhead3,511 Wokingham4,223 Milton Keynes8,788 Brighton and Hove18,695 Portsmouth16,178 Southampton15,050 Isle of Wight6,088 Buckinghamshire17,249 East Sussex24,507 Hampshire40,428 Kent54,827 Oxfordshire26,086 Surrey25,561 West Sussex27,445South West  Bath and North East Somerset7,384 Bristol, City of29,122 North Somerset7,593 South Gloucestershire7,345 Plymouth12,276 Torbay7,351 Bournemouth8,296 Poole6,057 Swindon8,680 Cornwall18,339 Isles of Scilly73 Wiltshire14,587 Devon22,060 Dorset12,889 Gloucestershire21,793 Somerset15,513England2,793,775

Health Education: Liverpool

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase self-care education in public health campaigns in Liverpool.

Jane Ellison: Self Care Week 2014 will take place between 17 and 23 November, and is run by the Self Care Forum. This year’s campaign will focus on how many winter illnesses do not need to be treated with antibiotics, and informing people of the advice available from pharmacists. Both Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group and Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust supported last year’s Self Care Week.   There is a range of work underway in NHS England to support self care, including working with Age UK on advice on self care for older people with mild frailty.   All Public Health England campaigns do give advice to the public on actions they can take to improve their health for example quitting smoking, identifying the early signs and symptoms of cancer or eating more healthily and getting more active. All of these campaigns can be used locally to support local priorities. We are giving local authorities ring-fenced funding of £8.2 billion over three years, 2013-14 to 2015-16, to help tackle public health issues.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all local authorities include (a) arthritis and (b) other musculoskeletal conditions in their joint strategic needs assessment; and what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on this issue.

Norman Lamb: The decision on whether to include arthritis or any other musculoskeletal conditions in joint strategic needs assessments is one made locally.   In March 2013, the Department published statutory guidance to support health and wellbeing boards undertake joint strategic needs assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies. The guidance emphasises the importance of understanding and addressing the needs of the local population, but does not specify the inclusion of any individual medical conditions.   The Secretary of State for Health has not held any recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on this issue.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the median time between arrival and departure from accident and emergency was in (a) London and (b) each London trust in each year since 2010.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the median time was from arrival to treatment in accident and emergency units in (a) all of London and (b) each London trust in each year since 2010.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the median time was from arrival to assessment in accident and emergency units in (a) all of London and (b) each London trust in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is shown in the attached tables. 



Tables
(Excel SpreadSheet, 34.39 KB)

Fractures: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which clinical commissioning groups in the North West have a fracture liaison service linked to their local hospital.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold this information. Responsibility for determining the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes from healthcare services, including fracture liaison services, lies with NHS England.

Leeds General Infirmary

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish the third stage of the review into the closure of surgery at Leeds children's heart unit.

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the third stage of the review into the closure of surgery at Leeds Children's Heart Unit will be published.

Jane Ellison: Publication of the Verita reports about the Leeds children’s cardiac surgery unit is a matter for NHS England. A date for publication will be confirmed shortly and interested parties, including Members of Parliament, will be advised. Once published, copies of the reports will be placed on the NHS England website.

Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for the transfer of commissioning responsibilities for public health for 0 to five year olds to local authorities.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Overall leadership of the transition of the commissioning responsibilities for public health for 0 to 5 year olds, including health visiting services, is an objective of the Department’s 0 to 5 Public Health Commissioning Transfer Programme Board.   From 1 October 2015, the Government intends that local authorities take over responsibility from NHS England for commissioning of public health services for children aged 0-5. This includes health visiting services and Family Nurse Partnership targeted services for teenage mothers. Local authorities will receive funding for these new responsibilities.   The Department is aiming to set out 0-5 funding allocations later in the year. Work is on-going to determine how much money will transfer and commissioning costs will be considered as part of the overall approach. Funding in future years will be calculated in the light of the Government’s next spending review.   Locally NHS England’s area teams and local authorities are working to develop plans, including timescales, for a smooth and effective transfer of the commissioning role. A programme of regional 0 to 5 years commissioning transfer events is underway, involving key stakeholders to enhance understanding of future working arrangements.

Anticoagulants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2014 to Question 206057, on anticoagulants, what plans the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has to update that guidance.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) regularly reviews the need to update its published guidance in order to take account of the latest available evidence.   We understand that NICE considered updating its technology appraisal guidance on bivalirudin for the treatment of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (TA230) in 2012 and decided, following consultation with stakeholders, to incorporate the recommendations into its clinical guideline on myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation (CG167). The guideline was published in July 2013 and NICE has advised that it will undergo a surveillance review two years after its publication, expected in July 2015.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the updated guidance for commissioners, GPs and providers on patients' choice in mental healthcare scheduled for release in September 2014 will be published.

Norman Lamb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 October 2014 to Question 210003.

General Practitioners: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the median waiting time for GP appointments was in (a) London and (b) each London trust in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not available centrally.

Ambulance Services: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the median ambulance response time was for each category of call in (a) London and (b) each London trust in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: This information is not available in the format requested.

Tuberculosis

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the statement from the Chief Executive of Public Health England that the number of cases of tuberculosis in Britain will soon exceed the number in the US for the first time; and what steps he is taking to tackle the increasingly antibiotic-resistant form of tuberculosis.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England and NHS England will jointly launch the Collaborative TB Strategy for England 2015-2020 having consulted on the draft earlier this year. The strategy sets out the best practice in clinical care, social support and public health to strengthen TB control. The strategy also focuses on building on existing successful initiatives in the NHS and public health system to reduce drug-resistant TB incidence by improving access to rapid diagnostic tests, dealing with the clinical and social risk factors associated with development of drug resistance, ensuring patient compliance with treatment by providing case management support, including the flexible delivery of care.